E-Paper
Women peddlers on the rise in Muktsar
Under the NDPS Act, eight cases were registered against women in 2015-16, 22 in 2016-17 and 47 cases were filed in 2017-18 in the district.
The police on Saturday arrested a woman and her husband with 10,000 intoxicating tablets in Malout of Muktsar. A case against the couple was registered at Malout city police station. This is not the lone case in which police have booked a woman in connection with drugs in the district.
The indulgence of women in drug peddling is continuously rising. In November alone, nine cases against women were registered by the police under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Excise Act in the district and drugs, including heroin, poppy husk and illicit liquor have been recovered from their possession. The Malout police had also recently arrested a woman with 30gm heroin in November.
Bariwala station house officer (SHO) Darbar Singh said, “Women are being lured into the peddling business to facilitate smooth operation. However, we have arrested several women in the recent past and tried to break this chain.”
Significant rise
As per information, 77 cases under the NDPS Act and 17 cases under Excise Act against women has been registered against women during 2015-18 in Muktsar district. Under the NDPS Act, eight cases were registered against women in 2015-16, 22 in 2016-17 and 47 cases were filed in 2017-18 in Mukstar.
Speaking to HT, Muktsar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Raj Bachan Singh Sandhu said, “Peddlers involve women as police usually do not suspect their indulgence. To control this practice, we have deployed female police officers at check posts and they also take part in raids.”
Advocate Kuljinder Singh Sidhu, former president of bar association, Gidderbaha, said, “There is a significant rise in women peddlers. Some women are involved to help their male counterparts in peddling while some take up the trade to bear expenditure of their family and make quick money.”
Poverty as well as freedom to blame
The sociologists are of the opinion that the indulgence of women in drug business is linked to poverty as well as freedom. Punjabi University assistant professor Namarta Vadhera said, “Some of our students have worked on this aspect. Poverty is to blame for the women taking this trade from poor financial background. The freedom in the society has also resulted in rise of drug consumption among women folks.”
