Can Witches Who Use Witchcraft To Kill Someone Be Put In Jail?

Witchcraft is not considered to directly affect criminal outcomes in the US, Russia, and Israel. However, aspects of religious activities and ceremonies could be covered by incitement or conspiracy. State-issued exoneration for victims of witchcraft persecution is not a modern concept. The Salem witch trials (1692–93) were a notable example, where at least 25 people, mostly women, were executed. Willard, responsible for helping to arrest the accused witches, quit his job in protest and was eventually arrested himself.

Five factors fueled unease and panic over accusations of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials: the accused may have been actual pedophiles or serial killers, but confession was historically the best way for the court to gain a conviction and an execution for charges of witchcraft. Witch hunting is far from limited to acts of sadistic vigilantism or profiteering; some legal systems even sanction the killing of accused witches.

In numerous countries around the world, witchcraft related beliefs and practices have resulted in serious violations of human rights, including beatings, banishment, and cutting of the throat. Some have claimed that as many as nine million women were executed as witches, even though few could possibly have been truly guilty of witchcraft.

Witchcraft have not featured prominently on the radar screen of human rights monitors, possibly due partly to the difficulty of defining “witches”. In some parts of the country, witch-hunting became an obsession. The Witchcraft Act, passed in 1542, defined witchcraft as a crime. More than 300 years ago, twenty people were put to death for the “crime” of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.

In India, there is a belief that witches harm and can destroy people. In Canada, witchcraft is not considered fatale or a means of death.