It’s 7pm on Thursday and the small cremation ground in Karunapuram Village of Kallakurichi is packed. It’s the kind of record footfall no town hopes to witness at its cremation ground but the deaths of more than 45 men and women in the hooch tragedy has forced horrendous scenes upon the villagers.
As many as 22 pyres are lined up in this small ground and an intermittent drizzle threatens to snuff the flames. But pyres burn nevertheless. Young children orphaned, aged parents left alone, women widowed, wailing siblings – all struggling to come to terms with the collective grief of losing 47 lives.
On June 20, news of the deaths following the consumption of illicit ‘packet arrack’ spread like wildfire. Families in disbelief trooped to the hospital, hoping it wasn’t true. By Thursday evening, the death toll had climbed to 42 and touched 47 on Friday morning.
The gravity and magnitude of the tragedy hits harder when one visits the narrow streets that count more than 10 deaths; the dwellings here have no space between them and now neither do the dead bodies.
Three children in particular are in shock, their eyes all dried out. Both their parents died after consuming the illicit liquor. “When we returned from school, we were told our parents were unwell and were taken to the government hospital. Little did we realise that they had passed away while we were in school,” says 14-year-old Raghavan.
Their father was a painter and their mother was a construction worker. With their parents’ deaths, there is no one left to pay rent or school fees.
Breaking down, their grandmother says: “My daughter was suffering from stomach pain. She was having medical syrup. My son-in-law used to consume illicit arrack. On that fateful day, he consumed half of it and kept the remaining half. My daughter thought that was her medicine and drank it accidentally. Sometime later she raised alarm that she isn’t able to see anything and complained of stomach pain. When we rushed to the hospital, she was declared brought dead.”
Other bereaved residents of Karunapuram are similarly devastated. Several children lost one of their parents, while many families lost breadwinners.
The bootlegger, Govindaraj allias Kannukutti, who was arrested, is also a resident of this village. His mother admitted while speaking to News18 that her son had been selling spurious liquor for the last one year.
Many distraught families say the local administration turned a blind eye and that spurious liquor was being sold for years but no action was taken to stop the sale or production of illicit arrack.
“The police officers are aware of the sale of arrack. They work hand-in-glove with the bootleggers. If the local administration says they were not aware of the sale of illicit liquor, they are lying. Every resident in Kallakuruchi knows about the consumption of hooch,” says 30-year-old Andal.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has constituted a one-man committee headed by Justice B Gokuldas to probe the incident and to submit a report within three weeks. Stalin also announced solatium of Rs 10 lakh for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those who are hospitalised.
The opposition, meanwhile, has demanded the ruling DMK to take moral responsibility for the hooch tragedy. While the AIADMK has demanded the resignation of Stalin, the BJP wants a CBI inquiry.
Speaking to News18, Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai said: “Why is CM Stalin sending his son? Shouldn’t he set up a camp here and monitor the situation? Why hasn’t he taken moral responsibility? We believe there is connivance between DMK party functionaries and those selling illicit liquor.”
Hooch tragedies are not uncommon in Tamil Nadu; one unfolded as recently as a year ago in in Tanjavur district. Will the mounting casualties in Kallakurichi finally force the government and local administrations to crackdown on other such operations across the state?
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