After five days following one of the worst-ever hooch tragedy that has ever hit Kallakurichi north Tamil Nadu, in which 58 lives have so far perished. Karunapuram still remains an epicenter of this tragedy hence memories of the night of June 18, 2024, have not disappeared.
Karunapuram was the place where a residence worked as a shop for selling hooch to the people who lived in it.
Now obituary flex boards for some of those killed in the area stand facing certain houses. While policemen remain on guard outside a house that used to be trading all types of poisonous alcohol up to June 19 only. And then I didn’t know what was happening around me till I fainted and brought into Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) at Puducherry,” M. Sathya, 27 years old says remembering about that day.
On Sunday Ms. Sathya was among five persons discharged by Jipmer.
A survivor M. Sathya, aged 27 talks here on Monday, June 24, 2024 after his home in Karunapuram had been stricken by the Kallakurichi hooch disaster.
Ms. Sathya is a mother or two who recalled an unfortunate day claiming she was addicted to alcohol since young age. “One time my father’s friend came at home and I went ahead to drink the residue they left in our house through their glass.” “Later I became addicted.When my two kids were born, initially i stopped taking alcohol but later started again,” she said during an interview.
Ms. Sathya and her sibling Vandana are transgenders drank it together on June 18th at night. When they bought it from Kannukutty alias Govindaraj who has recently been arrested.
As soon as the symptoms began, these two were taken to Government Kallakurichi Medical College and subsequently transferred to Jipmer. On June 24th 2014 Vandana was discharged.
Ms. Sathya continued saying “I was lucky that I survived but it is like another birth for me. The doctors in Jipmer gave me the best treatment they could offer, and I still appreciate this. I thought I would never see my family again. There will be no more alcohol intake” she said with tears rolling out from her eyes.
He had no idea that he consumed lethal mixture Paramasivam, 54 stated. This same hooch bought from Kannukutty was drunk by him regularly hence on the night of June 18. He consumed four packs of methanol enriched hooch. Paramasivam sits at his house in Karunapuram on Monday, June 24, 2024
“I reached home half-conscious and slept there but when I woke up in the morning; there was dizziness coupled with pain in the stomach.” “At exactly 5:30 am that day, I went back to Kannukutty’s joint and bought yet another of those pouches which i drank”. Mr Paramasivam says explaining how he got poisoned. For instance once he reached home after vomiting a lot while coming from school. He was taken to Government Kallakurichi Medical College then referred to Jipmer where she left on June 24.
According to Mr. Paramasivam, a loader in the vegetable market at the town, much of his friends. Who filled the same position and other daily wagers were not as fortunate as him. “I can see things but sometimes it’s difficult to see properly because my eyesight is failing and when I touch myself I don’t feel anything anymore.” I never knew that everyone’s beer could be poisonous in the neighborhood. Many families have been left by their fathers who died in this tragedy; most of them are my friends. This is something I will never forget; it was a terrible experience for me as well. We should avoid such situations from ever happening again,” he warned.
Saradha, a daily wage laborer lost her husband Murugan during this incident. She tells me that on June 18, her husband had taken some homebrew and was at home.
“On Wednesday morning, while going to work place I made a mistake of drinking one glass of such beer unknowingly. However, even though the taste was bitter I didn’t know it had poison,” she explained.
The couple became sick which led to their being moved fast to hospitalization facilities since both of them had started showing symptoms’ signs. On the way Murugan passed away while Saradha landed up herself in Jipmer. Where she stayed until Sunday and then went home on 23rd day of June.
“I was told that he had died by his friends but I couldn’t see him alive for the last time since they were still treating me too. The government has declared compensation for victims affected over this incidence including me. All for all my children depends on getting employed somewhere,” said Ms Saradha.
Murugan also survived with his family at their house in Karunapuram in Kallakurichi on Monday, June 24, 2024
Murugan was another victim aged 58 who said that this outlet functioned throughout the day and night. While it was normal for both sexes to buy the sachets of this brew and consume them.
“This beer parlor operated in public. Some residents had always reported to the authorities about this but nothing has been done by them. There should be no sale of alcohol in Karunapuram,” he added, with his recovery likening it to a new birth.
