Quit Drinking or Face Fines and Shaven Heads, Warn Mehsana Women

The women also plan to carry out raids on all the illegal liquor dens in the villages.

By Meryl Garcia

February 13, 2016

The Thakore community in Mehsana in Gujarat faces a unique problem. Every year, an average of six men from the community die from alcoholism, before they cross the age of 45.

The women from the community have come up with an interesting way to deal with inebriated men.

After a meeting held recently, the women decided that any youth who enters the village in a drunken state will be made to pay a fine of Rs. 1,100. That’s not all, his head will be shaved too.

The drunk person’s head will be shaved so that he feels humiliated for the next 10 days and the people in the village would immediately recognise him as someone who is addicted to alcohol, they say.

The women have also planned to carry out ‘janta’ raids on all the illegal liquor dens in the villages.

Photo source: news.asiaone.com

OBC Ekta Manch Convener Alkesh told Times of India, “There are about 18,000 villages in the state. In Banaskatha alone, around 6,500 youths died after consuming alcohol. Even in the small pocket in Memnagar in Ahmedabad, there have been 43 deaths in the past couple of years due to alcohol.”

According to Thakore, the women also plan to create awareness about alcoholism among the youth of the community through a rally in Ahmedabad.

“In a dry state like Gujarat, where there is a ban, people are easily getting liquor. The figures of death of this community reveal how freely liquor flows in Gujarat,” Thakore said.

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