Jobless diamond workers take to liquor

Surat: Due to joblessness, many diamond workers in the industry, which employs 4.5 lakh diamond polishers, have become liquor addicts. In two such cases reported from the diamond hub, the wives strangled their liquor addict husbands to death.
In one incident, the police arrested one Daya Dudhatra (32), a resident Shahyog Society in Kapodara for strangling her husband to death. According to the police, Daya’s husband Haresh Dudhatra, a diamond polisher, was unemployed from the last four months and he used to consume liquor daily and would assault his wife. In another incident, Shilpa Pansuria (35), a resident of Sonal Park Society in Amba Talavdi, too, strangled her liquor addict husband who was unemployed from the past many months.

President of Surat Diamond Association (SDA), Babu Gujarati said, “It is shocking to know about the workers turning to liquor. This is not a solution. If they have lost job, they should come to us and we will help them out. Liquor and suicide is not the solution.”