Dayan (witch)

The daayan cult refers to a secret society which emerged during the 15th century in Harangul, a village in the Latur district of Maharashtra. The concept of daayans has permeated Indian culture, and may be seen on popular television programs. Belief in daayans has existed in most regions of India, particularly Jharkhand and Bihar. "'Victims of witch-hunting are usually old or widowed women. These women are victimized for their property, or due to problems in the family or for sexual exploitation,' said Vasvi Kiro, a member of the Jharkhand Women's Commission."[3] It is prevalent in rural and semi-rural areas, with "witch-hunts" causing women to be killed or ostracised.[4]

In Harangul it is believed that daayan lives in an area of the village, and an evil spirit resides within them. Villagers believe these women destroy everything good. Daayans are reported in and around cemeteries, abandoned battlefields, crossroads, toilets and squalid places.[5][6][7]

Folklore suggests that a woman treated badly by her family or who died in childbirth as a result of family neglect returns as a daayan, haunting the family and drinking the blood of male family members.[8] Beginning with the youngest male in the family, draining his blood changes him into an old man before she progresses to the other men.[9]

A daayan is also said to target young families, young women and other family surrogates.[10] Assuming the form of a young, attractive female, she hunts for young men on roads and seduces lone travellers into accompanying her. Imprisoning a man, she feeds on his age and blood.[6][9] One legend says that a daayan will hold a young man captive until he is old, using him sexually until he dies and joins the spirit world. Another says that a young man seduced by the daayan who eats her food returns at dawn to the village as an old man.[11]

Daayan is sometimes used interchangeably with the term churel (Hindi: चुड़ैल cuṛail), although conceptual and cultural differences exist between them. A churel is a vengeful ghost that arise from the death of a woman during pregnancy or childbirth, with preternatural powers similar to a witch. Indian witch stories vary across the country; the north Indian states believe that the churel (which lives near graveyards or in forests) can change its form and lure young men killing or having physical contact with them while in the western and eastern parts of India, it is believed that a Chudail looks like an old hag who lures small children away from their families to kill and eat them so as to keep herself younger. In the end Daayan is way more powerful than Chudail according old folk's of India.[12]

Some women are believed to be daayans, and (along with young children) are sometimes tortured and killed in rural areas.[13] One of them is Jharkhand which ranks 24th out of 29 states in literacy. Witchcraft is a major social problem in this state, a large number of women are declared as witches and killed. It is prevalent because of belief in superstitions borne out of illiteracy and lack of education. The state is famous for an indigenous religion called Sarna. Similar to the puritan society of the 1600s, women here are not treated as equal to men. Hence single women, especially widows, are easy targets of witchcraft accusations.[14]

Daayans worship the evil, " black magic spirits".[15] Many believe they are the handmaidens of these goddesses, and are known as yoginis in local lore. 'Daayan' word is used in many Bollywood films, short films, Indian and Pakistani T.V. serials and in social media as a female, doing things that are not for the good cause or promote evilness in society and defame culture.