Statesman News Service
MALDA, 16 MARCH: In a curious method of treatment, a woman Mausama Bibi of Masimpur, Malda yesterday gave her one-year-old son, Rahamatullah, condensed poppy sap to consume believing it would tranquil the child and save her the torment of constant nagging.
The result, however, proved dangerous and the child is now fighting for life in Malda district hospital.
The shocked mother today claimed that she had acted on the advice of a neighbour. The child fell asleep after consuming the condensed poppy sap and fell unconscious soon. As the situation worsened, the child’s father came to know that his wife had administered opium to the child and assaulted her. They rushed the child to the hospital.
The doctors treating the ill child are yet to claim he is out of danger. “It is serious matter. The chld would take some more time to recover. The doctors are trying their best”, said the Malda CMOH Dr Srikanta Roy.
The incident highlights how poppy and opium have become household items in Malda. According to the district administration and excise department officials, foreign investors are using the local people to cultivate poppy in almost all blocks of the district.
Hundreds of locals including women and children are engaged in poppy cultivation for big money and the cultivation is catching up in areas along the Bangladesh border under Kaliachak police station in the district.
Though the Bengal excise department launched a special drive in January to destroy the poppy cultivation in these areas, large areas under poppy still remain to be attended to.
Hearing of the incident of the child’s illness, the Malda district magistrate Mr Sridhar Ghosh said: “We have destructed large areas of poppy cultivation already but more needs to be done. However, we must learn a lesson from the incident. I would arrange an awareness campaign in the rural areas about the vice”.
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