Laments fill the air. Women and children are inconsolable. Located behind the combined court complex of the Kallakurichi district Karunapuram colony, the epicentre of the hooch tragedy is in the grip of grief. There is a funeral going on in almost every house in the colony. Most families have lost their sole breadwinners, making the elders and the children staring at a grim future.
"Both my parents have died. On Tuesday they fought with each other. My father consumed liquor from a packet and left the remaining in a glass. My mother consumed it thinking it to be omam water. Both began complaining of vomiting and vision loss. We rushed them to the hospital. But they died," says 16-year-old Kokila Suresh. Her father Suresh (37), a painter, and mother S Vadivu (34) died on Wednesday. Kokila and her two brothers are a few among the many orphaned children in Kallakurichi.
Not far from Kokila’s house, an old woman is seen hugging two young boys and lamenting. “What will I do now to save these two boys?” she cries. Muniamma (name changed) is inconsolable as her son Praveen Kumar, a daily wage labourer, succumbed. "His wife had left us four years ago. He was the sole breadwinner of the family. Who will now take care of these two boys," she wails. A few meters away from her house, Poongudi, who works as a midwife in one of the nearby government hospitals, laments looking at her husband’s mortal remains. "I have been asking him to give up drinking. But he got used to this hooch and became an addict. Now my children and I are orphaned," Poongudi says.
Almost every house in Karunapuram colony is in deep sorrow. Funeral processions from the village to the Gomukhi River and mass cremation and burial of the victims have shaken the state. The hooch tragedy has claimed the lives of over 42 people while 14 more are said to be in critical condition. A total of over 116 people have been affected by hooch and have been admitted to the hospitals in Kallakurichi, Salem and Puducherry.
Meanwhile, the opposition AIADMK had demanded the resignation of Chief Minister M K Stalin, while the state unit of the BJP has shot a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a CBI probe. "It is complete negligence on the part of the state administration. The police and the state government failed to act," BJP state president K Annamalai said. Apart from Annamalai and Palanisami, actor-politician Thalapathy Vijay also visited the hospitals and called on the victims' families.
The police have so far arrested 10 people including Govindraj, the bootlegger who sold hooch in the region. Investigation is underway to nab the culprit who supplied methanol. The state government has also constituted an inquiry commission to probe into the reasons behind the tragedy. Sports and youth affairs minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, along with ministers EV Velu and Ma Subramanian, visited the patients at Kallakurichi Hospital and handed over a cheque of Rs.10 lakh to each victim's family.
Expressing grief and shock over the deaths, Chief Minister Stalin said that strict action would be taken against the police personnel who failed to prevent the tragedy. He also ordered the police to take action to curb the sale of illicit liquor across the state.
Meanwhile, the opposition AIADMK had filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court seeking a CBI probe. The court is all set to hear the petition on Friday.