Ravi Teja's death blamed on liquor shops

Demand for closure of wine shops, bars grows

• Tenali and Punadipadu incidents occurred in front of bars
• Protesting Dalits take out rally
• They claim Govt is encouraging liquor sales for revenue

Kankipadu (Krishna): The unfortunate death of MBA student, Devarapalli Ravi Teja, threw focus on the indiscriminate liquor trade in the State. Ravi Teja's was the second death in a row that happened this month after Betala Kantha Suneela, who was killed by eight drunken youth in Telani town on April 8. Ironically, the two incidents occurred right in front of the bars, with the intoxicated youth indulging in eve-teasing and subsequently attacking the companions. While it was the mother who became victim in protecting her daughter at Tenali, it was the brother in Punadipadu village of Krishna district who succumbed to the injuries caused in the attack by the drunken youth. The Dalit and mass organisations' leaders who led the protest at the police station on Thursday renewed the demand for the cancellation of the liquor shops and bars from the residential areas. They alleged that the government was encouraging liquor sales for revenue though the liquor shops and bars have become sources of crime in the State. The Andhra Pradesh Dalit Mahasabha founder general secretary, Dr Kathi Padma Rao, on learning about the incident reiterated his demand for the cancellation of the liquor shops and bars from the residential and market areas. He renewed his demand for total prohibition in the State to protect the women from increasing crime. He regretted that both Tenali and Punadipadu incidents have occurred right in front of the bars and wondered what the government was doing in this case. He appealed to women activists in the State to take out a rally for total prohibition. Former city mayor, Tadi Sakunthala, who led the women to Kankipadu police station, demanded the government immediately to close down the bars and liquor shops from the residential and market places. She said that the liquor business was ruining the families on one side and resulting in the crime against women on the other. She said that the increasing liquor business in the State had no security for women. The leaders of various mass organizations, Padamata Suresh Babu, Annavarapu Nageswara Rao, K Yesu, Varre Venkateswara Rao, T A Jones and N Sekhar, who stood by the victim's family echoed the demand for total prohibition and stern action against the three youth who assaulted the girl and injured her brother.