NAGAPATTINAM: Women and children living in Kottarakudi, a remote village in Tirumarugal block, express concerns about their safety, saying drunkards have been causing nuisance day in and day out.
Though there are no Tasmac liquor shops in roughly 8-km radius of the village, people who work in the union territory of Karaikal, located nearby, smuggle it through the porous inter-state police checkpost at Vanjur and sell it in the village, the residents said.
"I had a shiver down the spine," recalled Devi (name changed), a resident of Kottarakudi, who was almost assaulted by drunken men recently. She was among the 40-plus women who visited the Nagappattinam collectorate on Monday with a petition.
"It was just around 9 pm last week when a group of men aged 16 to 24 were consuming liquor just beside our house in the public. When I told them to go elsewhere, they gave me inappropriate stares as they walked towards me. Neighbours who saw this came to my rescue," she told the TNIE.
"My children are learning karate and silambam," said Priya S, another resident and mother of two – an 11-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, adding, "We fear children may be attacked by those under the influence of alcohol. Women and children get teased and harassed.
Making my kids learn the Karate and Silambam will help them to defend themselves if they are met with such situations." For differently abled people in the village, the situation is even worse. "I can't walk and so cannot accompany my kids everywhere. I'm afraid if anything will happen to them when I'm not with them," said a differently abled resident.
Sources said since liquor is cheaper in Puducherry, bootleggers smuggle it and sell it in Tamil Nadu. Villagers alleged that sale of alcohol happens brazenly at the Kottarakudi bus stand, almost throughout the day, with even minors buying it.
When contacted, Superintendent of Police S Selvakumar told TNIE that he has instructed personnel at the Vanjur police check post to intensify searches inside buses and other vehicles to curb liquor smuggling. He also said beat patrol teams would intensify surveillance in Kottarakudi. Residents, however, said only sustained enforcement can ensure safety in their village.