Illegal drinking kills 42 in India banning alcohol

At least 42 people have died and 15 have been hospitalized after drinking illegally in Saran district of the Indian state of Bihar. Information taken from The Times of India newspaper.

The victims’ families said the patients consumed homemade drinks at a local bar. According to the local newspaper, the number of victims updated by the balance of health units has not yet been officially confirmed and is working with a death toll of 30 so far.

The first cases were reported Wednesday morning (14), when more than 10 patients with symptoms such as stomach pain, headache, vision loss, shortness of breath and vomiting were being treated at a local hospital. A health camp was set up in villages where cases were reported to provide initial treatment to patients.

Police Inspector Santosh Kumar said an investigative team had been deployed to conduct operations “against those responsible for the murders”. Four people have been arrested so far. According to Sagar Dulal Sinha, director of Saran regional hospital, 22 autopsies confirmed poisoning with additive alcoholic beverages, AFP news agency reported.

Bihar’s Prime Minister, Nitish Kumar, who banned the consumption of alcohol in the state in 2016, made a harsh statement about reports of deaths from contamination. “A person dies if he drinks alcohol.”

The monarch defended his policy of dry law, saying that “many people have given up alcohol.” Since the ban, multiple reports of moonshine poisoning have been reported, but this time a large number of deaths have occurred in a short period of time.

According to data from the International Wine and Beverage Association of India, 40% of alcohol consumption in India comes from illicit manufactures that mix drinks to raise alcohol levels, according to AFP. Currently, the country consumes about 5 billion liters of alcoholic beverages per year.