Birubala Rabha

Birubala Rabha (1954 – 13 May 2024) was an Indian activist who campaigned against witch hunting in India. She was based in Goalpara, Assam. She ran an organisation called Mission Birubala which spreads awareness against witch hunting. She was instrumental in the Government of Assam passing the legislation on the prevention of and protection from witch hunting in 2015. The Government of India awarded her the fourth-highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2021, for her contributions to social work.

Background Rabha was born in 1954 in the village of Thakurvila, near the border of Meghalaya in Assam's Goalpara district. Her father died when she was six, forcing her to drop out of school and help her mother run the household.

Activism Initially, Rabha formed the Thakurvila Mahila Samity, a women's association raising awareness of various social ills, including witch-hunting in her local village, and later in 2006, became involved in the Assam Mahila Samata Society. In 2011, she founded Mission Birubala; a non-profit organisation made up of a network of social activists, survivors and lawyers; which aims to educate and spread awareness against witch-hunting, as well as support and protect survivors and potential victims of witch hunts across the state of Assam.