JAGATSINGHPUR: Hundreds of villagers of Erasama block in the district on Friday demanded complete ban on sale of illicit liquor in rural areas. They alleged that due to liquor, crime rate in the block is rising and recently, a nine-year-old girl of Gadharishpur village was raped and murdered by a local youth in inebriated condition. Women of the village have decided to intensify their strike to make the panchayat free from liquor. Protesting the illegal sale of liquor in the panchayat, women activists of 75 SHGs, led by Sarpanch Bhimsen Rout, ransacked nearly 20 liquor shops in the area.
Jhansirani SHG president Sankari Das said, “Since the death of the minor girl on March 21, we have intensified our agitation protesting illegal sale of liquor. On Saturday, we will organise mass meetings over the issue at different places in the panchayat to create awareness among the people.” Meanwhile, different women organisations, under the banner of Odisha Nisha Nibarana Abhiyan, took out mass rallies and staged demonstrations in Japa panchayat protesting illegal sale of liquor on Friday.
Similarly, women of Krushnachandrapur panchayat and members of Gadi Mahabir Youth Club took out a 2-km silent protest rally over the issue. On Thursday, women of Ambiki panchayat had launched an anti-liquor movement to make Erasama a liquor-free block.On September 5 last year, irate women of Gadharishpur panchayat had blackened the face of an illicit liquor trader and paraded him in the villages with garland of slippers.