India, Aug. 14 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday said victimisation of women in the name of "witchcraft" reflects a deep-rooted social prejudice that seeks scapegoats rather than solutions, and warned that superstition and irrational fear cannot be allowed to override reason and the rule of law.

A bench of justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and NV Anjaria made the observations while upholding the life sentence of an Odisha man convicted of murdering a woman after accusing her of practising witchcraft.

The top court dismissed the appeal filed by Balku Oram, who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for killing the woman in 1998. The Odisha High Court had upheld his conviction and sentence, following which he approached the apex cou...