Raised as drug peddlers, then married to addicts
Reeta Sharma

YOU have read about husbands as well as fathers forcing their wives and daughters into prostitution. And now, there are reports of women being used for drug peddling.

In the Doaba region, women are being used to carry bhuki, afeem, dode, etc, by their fathers, brothers and husbands. All these women belong to an extremely poor section of society. Since their childhood, they have been aware of various tricks employed to hide drugs and carry them from one place to another. Over the years, they have learned to smell the presence of the police. They know how to steer clear of its net.

It is ironical that their parents have got them married to men, who were drug addicts.

The SSP of Nawanshahr V. Neerja, who has detected a large number of women operating as drug peddlers in the district, says: "I tried to counsel them but soon realised that counseling alone was not enough. Most of these women are either illiterate or have done their schooling up to Class IV or V. In most cases it was found that they had been initiated into this line by their parents. Eventually their marriages too ensured that they remained in the world of crime. Husbands of a majority of these women are either drug addicts or have died because of drugs. It almost sounds like a community of criminals."

Neerja, who discovered that police personnel of lower ranks were in connivance with these drug peddlers, dealt with this increasing crime with a heavy hand. So, today more cases are being registered to ensure that in future women like them do not become habitual offenders.

"For instance, Krishna (50), though in this line for a long period, has only one case registered against her. Similarly, Jagiro (60) has been arrested 15 times on charges of drug peddling, but has got acquitted 13 times. One time she was convicted and imprisoned for 10 years under the NDPS Act," the SSP says.

Jagiro was born in Hoshiarpur. She had two brothers and one sister. Her entire family was into peddling drugs. In 1962, she was married to Nanju Ram, who was a petty thief. She gave birth to four sons and two daughters. In 1979, Nanju died of drug addiction and the burden of bringing up of six children fell on Jagiro’s shoulders. Since she had no other skills, she returned to drug peddling. In 1997, Jagiro was caught with 445 kg of opium. She was convicted and imprisoned for 10 years along with a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Jagiro came on parole in 2002 but within a month was re-arrested with 175 kg of opium. At present, she is in judicial custody. Meanwhile, three of her sons have become drug addicts.

A perusal of the case files of some of the women who took to drug peddling, shows that they were either driven by family circumstances or poverty or because of the greed to become rich.

What is shocking is that despite committing this crime, these women have often been acquitted. But it is not difficult to fathom the reason for it. They often manage to wriggle out with help of the police.

The police as well as the judges take a compassionate view while handling the cases of women drug peddlers even though the law speaks of stringent punishment like no bail or long years of imprisonment for such offenders. Some times considerations such as the age of the peddler or the fact that she has small children or other family circumstances like having a husband who is an addict make the police as well as the judiciary deal with these women leniently.

For instance, take the case of Satya, who was caught with 280 kg of dode in 1992. She belongs to a very poor family and is the sole bread-earner. It was purely on compassionate grounds that she was acquitted in 1993 with a warning. Similarly, Balbiro, who too was caught with a huge quantity of dode and came from a poor Sansi family, was let off. Her poor socio-economic background generated sympathy and led to her acquittal.

There are dozens of other cases of women drug peddlers who were caught with 10 kg to 16 kg of dode but were later let off with a warning.

However, there are some other cases too where poverty was not the reason that made the peddlers opt for this line. Dalbiro had no compulsions to embrace this ugly way of life. Interestingly, while her husband and son are abroad, her two daughters are married and the third one is studying in Class IX. She was caught with 1,669 kg of dode. Similarly, Chhindo, whose one son was in England, was caught with 504 kg of dode.

In many cases these women are contract employees of big-time smugglers and drug peddlers. These women only get a small cut from them.

Neerja says, "Unless we break this vicious circle and provide some alternative to these women to lead a normal lawful life, this practice will continue. Their children need to go to schools and require to be under constant friendly vigil. The children ho have become addicts need to be de-addicted. I am approaching various NGOs to work on these women and their children but it is a long-term project. I wonder how many NGOs have the infrastructure and the will to take it up?"