A 49-year-old woman, who has been opposing the sale of ganja at Annai Sathya Nagar near the Secretariat, and her two sisters were attacked with sharp weapons near their home by a three-member gang on Saturday night.
R. Annakili Vedhachalam, Chennai district secretary of Pennurimai Iyakkam, and her sisters Karpagam and Yashoda are residents of Annai Sathya Nagar, which has around 800 families.
The residents say a few youngsters in the locality smoke ganja or consume alcohol and then harass women. “My 20-year-old relative was also subjected to this torture in July. She has been targeted by the same gang ever since,” said Ms. Annakili.
She said that on Saturday night, Sunda, Shankar and Deva barged into Ms. Karpagam’s house when she was sleeping and attacked her with sharp weapons. “When I came to know of it, I ran to save her. But they spotted me and hit me on the head and the back. My other sister Yashoda was not spared either,” she said.
The three were rushed to hospital. A complaint has been lodged with the Fort police station against the assailants.
“People come in cars and buy ganja from the peddlers in the locality. I have been fighting against it for long. Women in the locality don’t feel safe. A majority of our residents are daily wage earners, but a few of them indulge in such anti-social activities,” Ms. Annakili said.
R. Geetha, adviser, Pennurimai Iyakkam, says the sale of ganja is a widespread problem in the city. “We need special teams at the police station level to crack down on the sale of contraband. The police should ensure the protection of women in slum areas and CCTV cameras should be installed in these places. Earlier, slums were the safest place for women; now they have become very unsafe,” she says.
The police say ganja sale has been curbed to a large extent during the lockdown to check the spread of COVID-19. “Even now, smuggling by road is under control, but people are bringing it on trains. We are cracking down on it too,” says a police officer.
