The drug problem in India’s Punjab has gotten so bad that reports of a woman chaining her addicted daughter to a bed recently emerged.
According to a report by Indian broadcast channel NDTV, the woman, who resides in Amritsar, reportedly sought help from government rehabilitation facilities and reached out to authorities but her efforts were not fruitful. Soon after, she resorted to the extreme measure.
On Tuesday, Amritsar MP and Congress leader Gurjeet Singh Aujla visited his constituency to meet the woman and offered the family medical assistance.
The woman said that the daughter has relapsed repeatedly.
“I admitted my daughter to a government-run de-addiction centre thrice, but they used to release her in four to five days. How can a drug addict be cured in four-five days? I even implored doctors to admit my daughter till she was cured, but to no avail,” Aujla was quoted as saying in the report.
While there is no substantive data on female addicts in the state, Punjab has just one rehabilitation centre for women.
Drug addiction in Punjab
Punjab has been struggling with a drug problem. The state has become a synthetic and narcotic drug procurement centre to neighbouring regions of India, a report by Indian broadcast channel India Today’s online website stated.
Earlier this year, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has said his government was taking strong measures to control drug abuse in the state.
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu told India Today that the number of drug overdose deaths has come down during the current year after the state government worked to spread awareness and improved medical facilities.
Due to government efforts, it is reportedly getting harder to attain synthetic drugs for drug users. As a result, Punjab government’s forensic lab officials said that the drug addicts have resorted to using morphine powder instead.
