The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India has taken suo motu cognizance of media reports that many people have died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in the Tamil Nadu districts of Villupuram and Chengalpattu, with several others hospitalized.
The NHRC has determined that the contents of the media reports, if true, amount to violation of the people’s right to life.
The state government appears to have failed to prohibit the sale and consumption of illicit/spurious liquor. As a result, the commission issue notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, requesting a detailed report on the matter within four weeks.
The status of the police-registered FIR, the victims’ medical care, and any compensation provided to the harmed families should all be included. The Commission is also interested in knowing what was done to punish the negligent officers who caused the tragedy.
The illegal alcohol marketed as “Arrack” was a cocktail of methanol, chemicals, and water that was mostly consumed by fishermen from Tamil Nadu’s coastal regions.The current situation states that 50 people were hospitalized while 13 people from the Villupuram district and 5 from the Chengalpattu district had passed away. The development is unexpected given that data from the National Crime Records Bureau and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (2016–21) show that the number of deaths from illicit or spurious liquor has been largely contained. Tamil Nadu reported no deaths from 2016 to 2019; 20 in 2020; and 6 in 2021, according to the central authorities. Besides, the State has safeguards to prevent such tragedies. Since 2002, methanol, regarded as the main cause behind hooch tragedies, has been brought under the ambit of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937.
