From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Jun 28: After several rounds of discussions in the State Cabinet and experts, the ruling Congress has decided to tone down stringency of a Bill that envisages banning evil practices in Karnataka.

Several supertitious practices, including made snana, astrology and animal sacrifices, would be dropped from the draft Bill, according to Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa.

A Cabinet sub-committee headed by Thimmappa drafted the Bill and referred to the Law Department for finalising various provisions in it.

Kagodu told presspresons on Wednesday that several stringent provisions of the original Bill has been dropped owing to difficulty in the enforcement. The Bill, titled Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifices and other Inhuman Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Bill, would be introduced during the next session of the legislature, which is likely to be held in November-December.

The original Bill envisages banning practices such as human sacrifice, exorcism, black magic, witchcraft, aghori, made snana, rituals with self-inflicting injury, throwing of infants from a height on a bed of thorns, parading women in the naked, sexual exploitation by invoking supernatural powers, and killing animals by biting their neck.

Several evil practices can be eliminated only by awareness among the people and not by legislation.
It was difficult to ban killing of chicken during village festivals, he said.