Women of a panchayat in Maoist-dominated Palkot of Gumla district have pledged to make the entire block ‘‘liquor-free”, having suffered enough at the hands of their husbands who turn abusive after drinking.

The women from Palkot South Part panchayat, one of the 14 panchayats of the block, took the oath on Friday and issued a warning in the presence of security forces to sellers of country-made fermented liquor in the region, nearly 120km from Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi.

“We are the worst sufferers of consumption of liquor by our men. They usually consume liquor at the haat (village market) on Thursdays and on Mondays and fight amongst themselves or beat up women in the family.

“We are fed up and approached police, who were carrying out an awareness drive against liquor, witchcraft and other social evils in our panchayat.

“With the active support of the police, we warned nearly 20 sellers on Friday and we will also speak sternly to the other bootleggers at the haat on Monday,” said Padma Devi, 45, a resident of Palkot South Part panchayat.

Palkot police station officer in charge Rahul Kumar Jha said that following a directive of the superintendent of police, they had been carrying out an awareness campaign at least twice a week in every panchayat against the consumption of liquor and witch-hunting practices.

“It was during one such awareness drive that the women from Palkot South Part approached us with the idea of warning not only sellers of liquor but also buyers in the village haat. They also assured of keeping vigil and informing us if anybody sell liquor in the market or at homes.

“We could not have asked for a better opportunity and readily agreed to lend all our support. We deployed an adequate number of security personnel when the women were issuing warnings to liquor sellers for security reasons,” Jha said.

The officer said all the women had been given his and the police station’s contact numbers so that they can seek help directly during an emergency.

“We have assured them that security personnel will accompany them while they carry out a campaign against the sale of liquor in panchayats and villages. We have asked them to inform us, without revealing their identity, about liquor vends so that we can raid such outlets. We do not want to put them at risk either as it is a Maoist-disturbed area,” added Jha.

Gumla superintendent of police Ehtesham Waquarib said all police stations in the area had been told to conduct a campaign against sell of liquor and witch-hunting at least twice a week in their thana jurisdiction.

“We are happy that the women have come forward to tackle the social evils emboldened by the police campaign. All the thanas have been asked to cooperate and support women who undertake similar exercise,” the SP said.

Women of the Palkot block admitted that one of the main reasons for the increase in crimes was liquor consumption.

“Almost every household is suffering because the men are consuming liquor and resorting to domestic violence, rape, murder and robbery. It is high time we make efforts to stop selling liquor not only in our panchayat but also in the other panchayats as well,” said Kusum Devi, another resident of Palkot South Part.