Cheap hooch takes heavy toll on the poor
This story, as all those reports made of police versions, ought to be taken with a spoonful of salt because the incident has just happened and it would take time for a clear picture to emerge. But it’s a sad saga and a grim reminder of what cheap liquor is doing to poor working-class families in Hyderabad.
P Laxmi,32, is a labourer. She is married to P Jangaiah, who too is a labourer, and the couple has three children. On Thursday, the railway police found her body with head severed on the rail-track near Vikarabad in RR district.
Two of her kids, aged 6 and 7, are in hospital with injuries allegedly sustained when their mother jumped before a running train along with the kids. According to sub-inspector (railway) Suryanarayana, the woman is said to have been an alcoholic and she had often quarreled with her husband over this.
According to Jangaiah, he too drinks but his wife used to be a heavy drinker and had become an addict. After a bout of quarrel over money on Thursday, she left with two kids to the railway track and made a bid to end all three lives. The surviving children are said to have corroborated this report.
However, it remains to be found out if the story was true. But an undeniable fact is that cheap hooch available aplenty in the City and periphery is taking a heavy toll of poor people — both men and women. And, the police and excise officials have miserably failed to curb the menace.
About the Author (Author Profile)
I have been working as a crime reporter in Hyderabad for the past 17 years. I was encouraged to be a journalist by my late father. As a journalist I try to do something unique for society, especially the poor who suffer the most.
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