Hyderabad: In February this year officials of Dial 100 received a call from locals of the Cherlapally industrial area. A SHE team rushed to the spot. The team saw a 26-year-old drunk who was detained by locals after he attempted to molest a 29-year-old woman on the road.
A few minutes earlier, the man, N. Vijaykumar, got drunk right in front of a local wine shop and started accosting the victim as she walked home. “He told her that he loved her. When they reached a lonely area he grabbed her hand and asked if she could have sex with him. The woman shouted for help and luckily some men heard her. They roughed him up and called Dial 100,” said a SHE team member.
This is not an isolated incident. It can happen even in residential colonies, busy streets and bus stations. According to SHE team officials a large number of men they caught were drunk. The drunkards of Hyderabad do not mind the ban on drinking in public places. They continue to drink liquor outside wine shops, stagger down busy streets and trouble women.
The ban order of police commissioners remain on paper with no efforts to crack down on offenders. After the custodial death in Marredpally police station in August, the police is apprehensive of picking up drunks from the street and keeping them in stations. The drunk Bannappa, who was picked up by cops, died inside the police station leading to an attack on the PS.
“We have not arrested any drunks in the last three months. It is risky as most of them are weak. We keep getting complaints from local residents about drunks. A crackdown will be launched soon,” said north zone DCP N. Prakash Reddy.
Although there are permit rooms in some wine shops many still drink standing in front of shops. Near all wine shops there will be paan and snack shops from where the men can buy water, cool drinks and glasses to drink the liquor they bought.
Drunk walking is dangerous
Experts say drunk walking is as risky as drunk driving. While many accidents have been reported due to drunk walkers, there is no mechanism to stop drunks from walking on the roads.
Police can take action against a person if he is seen drinking at a public place, but there is no provision to charge drunk walkers. Breath analyzer is only for drunk drivers and not for drunk walkers.
A study published in 2011 by The Journal of Trauma found that 55 per cent of pedestrians who were drunk ignored rules while walking on roads.
Banning drinking in public police commissioner Mahender Reddy said, “any person violating this order will be punished under Section 188 and as per the Hyderabad City Police Act, 1348 Fasli.”
The police order says that drunks have been creating fear among citizens, especially women and children. However, the police is yet to look into the trouble drunks create on roads. “Till August, 613 pedestrians were hit by vehicles and 120 were killed. Many of them were drunk. Police has not recorded their alcohol status as they were victims,” said a member of the RTC Bus Drivers’ Association.
Police officials say that they cannot arrest a person just because he is walking on the road drunk. "Only if someone complains that he created nuisance we can charge him," said a senior cop.
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