The Assam Government on Wednesday tabled the Magic Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024 in the state legislative assembly.
The bill was introduced by State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika.
The said bill seeks to “prohibit and eliminate practices of magical healing in the name of treatment of some congenital diseases such as deafness, dumbness, blindness, physical deformity and autism”.
It will prohibit such healing sessions completely and provide strong punitive action against ‘healers’ extorting the poor and downtrodden people in the name of treatment.
According to Section 3 of the Bill, the government is empowered to ban evil or magical healing practices for treating certain diseases and health disorders. Section 4 allows the government to prohibit misleading advertisements for such practices.
The bill includes several key sections for curbing “inhuman, evil, or magical healing” practices. Section 5 empowers the government to punish any act or promotion of such practices while Section 6 extends this to include imprisonment for a year, extendable up to three years, or a fine of ₹50,000, or both.
For repeated offences, the convicted could face up to five years in jail or a fine of ₹1 lakh, or both.
Section 9 of the Bill empowers the government to appoint police officers as vigilance officers to handle such cases. Section 16 further empowers the government to frame rules to implement the provisions of the Bill.
