The couple, joined by residents, held a protest urging the state government to intervene and address the rampant drug abuse in the area.
In a grim reminder of Punjab’s ongoing drug crisis, an elderly couple in Sultanpur Lodhi is staring at the possible loss of their fifth son after already losing four to addiction.
Joginder Pal Singh and Manjit Kaur, both in their sixties, say their 32-year-old son Sonu is critically ill and confined to a bed at their home in Pandori Mohalla, close to the local police station. On Sunday, the couple, joined by residents, mostly women, held a protest in the locality, urging the state government to intervene and address the rampant drug abuse in the area.
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Speaking during the protest, Manjit Kaur said two of her sons who died were married, while the other two were unmarried. “Now we fear our fifth son will meet the same fate,” she said.
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She added that Sonu had recently been taken to a hospital but was discharged after doctors reportedly struggled to find veins for treatment and prescribed only oral medication. “The government must step in and save my son,” she said.
Sonu, a father of two young children, a toddler son and an infant daughter, had earlier been admitted to a de-addiction centre but relapsed within days of returning home, his mother said.
Women from the mohalla claimed that drugs are easily available in the area, alleging that around 20 young men have died due to addiction in recent years. “Three have died in just the past four to five months,” Manjit Kaur said.
Several residents pointed to the stark gap between official claims of curbing drug abuse and the situation on the ground. “What we see every day is very different from what the government says,” she added.
Many women shared accounts of how addiction has torn apart their families. Some said addicts often resort to theft or sell household belongings to sustain their habit. One woman said her daughter-in-law left after her son failed to give up drugs, while another said her only son, married at a young age, is now addicted.
Residents also alleged that drug peddlers operate openly in the area, moving on motorcycles with their faces covered and supplying drugs quickly before disappearing.
The protesting women urged the government to act decisively to curb the supply of drugs and to provide immediate help to those battling addiction, especially Sonu, whose condition remains critical.
Manjit Kaur said many of the affected families in Pandori Mohalla are from economically weaker backgrounds. “We are poor. Whatever little we had has been drained by our sons’ addiction,” she said.
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