Kamal Ghorui
SULTANPUR LODHI: Joginder Pal Singh and Manjit Kaur, both in their sixties, have already lost four sons to drug addiction. Now, they fear they may lose their fifth as well.Their 32-year-old son, Sonu, lies critically ill on a bed at their home in Pandori Mohalla, near the Sultanpur Lodhi police station. On Sunday, the distraught couple, along with residents of the locality, staged a protest demanding that the state government intervene to save Sonu and rid the area of the drug menace.Manjit Kaur and other women from the mohalla alleged that drugs are freely available in the area, claiming that around 20 young addicts have died over the past few years. “Three have died in our mohalla in the last four to five months alone,” she said.“Two of my sons who died were married and two were unmarried. Now we fear our fifth son will meet the same fate,” Manjit told TOI. She said Sonu was recently admitted to a hospital but was discharged after doctors reportedly failed to find his veins and prescribed only oral medication. “The government should step in to save my son,” she pleaded.She added that her youngest son had died around two years ago. Sonu, who is battling for his life, has two children — a son aged two-and-a-half years and a six-month-old daughter. “We once had him admitted to a de-addiction centre, but he relapsed within three days of returning home. Drugs are openly available in Sultanpur Lodhi,” she alleged.Other women from the area echoed similar concerns, claiming a wide gap between official claims of curbing drug abuse and the ground reality. “There is a huge mismatch between what the state says and what we see every day,” said Manjit, who belongs to the Mazhabi Sikh community and works at Gurdwara Ber Sahib.Several women shared personal accounts of how addiction has devastated their families. One said her daughter-in-law left after her son failed to quit drugs, while another said her only son, married at a young age, is now an addict. Some alleged that addicts resort to theft or sell household items to fund their habit.They also accused drug peddlers of operating openly in the area, moving around on motorcycles with their faces covered, delivering drugs swiftly before disappearing.The protesting women urged the state government to rescue addicted youths — especially Sonu, whose condition is critical — and to act decisively on its promise to end drug supply.Manjit Kaur said that most families who have lost sons to drug addiction in Pandori Mohalla belong to the Mazhabi Sikh community, though residents from other caste groups also live in the area. “Most families are poor. Our sons’ addiction drained whatever little resources we had,” she said.
