Saran, Bihar: The women in Hanuman Ganj and Ghighori villages in Bihar’s Saran district are angry with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The men in their family have either died after drinking spurious liquor or are undergoing treatment in hospitals for alcohol poisoning. This is in a state where alcohol is banned.
Nitish’s ‘piyoge to maroge’ (if you’re going to drink, you’ll die) comment in the Bihar Assembly Friday is fueling their resentment as the death toll continues to rise.
The hooch tragedy has affected the villages that fall within the Mashrak block of Saran district. The wail of ambulances here can be heard with depressing regularity and demand for wood for funeral pyres has gone up.
While the government is yet to release information on the exact death toll, district officials claim that around 28 people have died since Tuesday night, but according to one report, the toll could be as high as 60. Locals ThePrint spoke to put the death toll at around 70 with about 23 having lost their vision.
Many deaths, ThePrint found, are going unreported with families choosing to cremate the victims in secret to avoid police inquiries.
“If liquor has to be banned, then do it properly, otherwise it is of no use. It is being found and consumed secretly, isn’t it? People are selling as well as buying liquor,” says Sunita Devi, a resident of Ghighori. Her neighbour and distant relative, Mukesh Sharma, was among those who died after consuming illegal hooch.
What’s worrying are fears that spurious alcohol is still being sold and consumed in the state.
“There have been so many deaths, but people are still consuming alcohol,” said Saran superintendent of police (SP) Santosh Kumar, adding that the police have started conducting door-to-door awareness campaigns.
The administration, he added, is trying its best but people are ignorant about the state’s liquor policy, so they are not coming forward. “People have become so addicted to the high of alcohol that they are not able to stop themselves from consuming more. They are even drinking the discarded liquor. Some are coming after having performed the last rites of their loved ones who died of alcohol poisoning and then drinking more. What can the administration do about this?” he said to ThePrint.
In hospitals, doctors Friday said that they were still admitting patients suffering from alcohol poisoning, but refused to reveal more details.
Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan visited Mashrak Saturday morning to meet the families affected by the tragedy — the first political leader to do so.
He was seen comforting Ilaychi Devi, mother of Ajay Manjhi who died Wednesday at the PMCH hospital in Patna. He also interacted with Lakshmi Devi, wife of Ramnarayan Manjhi, who also succumbed to the effects of poisoning at the hospital the same day.
“Nitish Kumar has no shame,” Paswan told the media present. “He is saying no compensation will be given to these families. Aren’t these our people?”
Meanwhile, the BJP has been targeting the Nitish government. “So many people have died. Nitish Kumar should take responsibility on moral grounds and resign from his post. If his government is unable to prevent such incidents, they have no right to stay in power,” said Vijay Kumar Sinha, leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly.
Speaking to ThePrint, MLA of Taraiya in Saran, BJP’s Janak Singh, said that party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi will also be visiting the constituency soon to meet the families of the deceased.
Also read: ‘Where’s the ban? Men still get liquor illegally and die.’ Anger over Bihar hooch tragedy
‘Had to take Rs 20,000 loan to cremate my husband’
Most of the deceased were the sole breadwinners of their family. Their death has left their loved ones in a precarious situation.
Ghighori’s Mukesh Sharma, mentioned above, worked as a plumber. His wife Pooja Devi, a homemaker, now sits in their house consisting of two small rooms and a kitchen, feeding her youngest daughter, while her eldest child, 6-year-old Kirti, plays with a doll in a corner. The bed Mukesh slept in before he took ill remains unmade.
Pooja Devi said her husband had complained of a stomach ache after returning from a party in Mashrak Tuesday evening.
“I put balm on his head and gave him medicine for gas, but there was no relief,” she said. It was only when he started losing his vision that he admitted he had been drinking alcohol. His family, including his father, claimed they had no idea he had consumed alcohol.
He died on the way to the hospital.
Barely 3 km away, a similar scene plays out in Laljhari Devi’s house. She has lost her husband and father-in-law.
Her husband had complained of a headache and subsequently lost his vision Tuesday. “He was looking at his mobile phone but could not see anything,” says Laljhari Devi. She took him to seven hospitals in Mashrak, both government and private. “No doctor looked at him properly and then he died,” she claimed, adding that she was charged Rs 20,000 by one hospital.
“I had to take a loan of Rs 20,000 to cremate my husband” says Laljhari, bent over an earthen stove in her single-storey house with a kuccha floor, unable to hold back her tears.
After her husband was cremated Wednesday, her father-in-law took ill. “As soon as my son returned after performing the last rites of my husband, my father-in-law, too, complained of a stomach ache and then vision loss, after which he also died,” added Laljhari Devi.
A heart patient, she must now find a way to pay for her weekly medicine bill of Rs 350. As visitors come to condole, an inconsolable Laljhari Devi weeps and asks, “Who will look after us now?”
‘Want the government to help’
The anger against Nitish and the state government is palpable. Many women have accused the government of deliberately suppressing the true scale of the tragedy and are demanding compensation.
“I want the government to help me now. I studied till class 10. Now I have to take care of them,” said Pooja Devi, pointing to her daughters.
Nitish Kumar had said in the assembly Friday that no compensation will be given to the relatives of those who died due to consumption of alcohol, but Sunita and other women in Ghighori hold the government responsible for failing to check sale of alcohol.
“I have seen people drink in front of my house. A few days ago, when a bike broke down near my house, we discovered that the riders were carrying two bags full of liquor. We told the police but don’t know whether they did anything about it or not,” said Sunita Devi.
Fear of law
There are fears that the death toll could be higher with patients choosing not to go to hospitals for fear of the law against liquor in Bihar. Many villagers have also been choosing to not get a post-mortem of their relatives done.
According to Pankaj Yadav, a Chapra-based social worker, and residents of Ghighori and Hanuman Ganj, some families have performed the last rites of their loved ones in their villages without the knowledge of the authorities.
“In this case, there are some 10 businessmen who have died. Some people are afraid of interrogation and arrest. In the spurious liquor case, we have arrested seven people so far and several quantities of liquor have also been recovered and sent for investigation,” said SP Santosh Kumar.
“In the past 48 hours, 128 people have been arrested, and 12.54 litres of foreign liquor, 1,671 litres of desi liquor and 150 litres of spirit liquor has been confiscated,” he added.
No clarity on death toll
Several patients have been admitted to Chapra’s Sadar Hospital. Rajeshwar Prasad, Sadar’s hospital manager, says only 11 people were admitted Friday, of which four were referrals.
When asked about death figures, he couldn’t offer a definitive number. None of the hospitals are forthcoming with information.
Friday the dead body of Mukesh Kumar Singh was lying outside Sadar Hospital for an hour before it was taken for post-mortem at around 4 pm. He had been referred to Sadar Hospital but had died on the way. His companions were spotted rushing his body for post-mortem, afraid of being stopped by the police.
According to Sadar’s civil surgeon Dr S.D. Sinha, so far, the hospital has conducted post-mortems of 31 people who died after drinking spurious liquor.
Dr Gopal Krishan, head of Mashrak’s local Community Health Centre, “On Friday, seven people were admitted to the local health centre. The condition of one of them was serious and we referred him to Patna. The rest were also referred to other hospitals.”