Drug peddlers target vulnerable children in Delhi slums
Prabha Gupta
Poverty, police apathy, and predatory dealers trap poor children as young as 8 in a cycle of substance abuse.
“In our pursuit of earning a living, our son slipped away,” laments Rani*, a resident of jal vihar, a slum near the affluent Jangpura, area in South Delhi. The slum faces challenges like scarcity of drinking water, but access to drugs is always there.
Another domestic help Laxmi told that the drugs sold stealthily in small shops. In this slum most of the ladies go for work but some of the males do not work so they take drugs and alcohal. Even most of the youngsters trap in drugs menace. Police come and collect hafta and go away.
This business is flourishing like anything in this slum. The persons who are doing this business, whenever they go back to their village take lots of money with them and created lots of property in Madras. My husband is also trapped in this menace. I cannot help out.
When asked Police post Jangpura, he tells if we arrest them and put them in lockup they come out after 3- 4 days on bail. There is no rigourus punishment in law for small drug pedderlars untill unless they possess huge quantity.
Conversations with local residents revealed a disturbing trend: drug peddlers lure teenagers into addiction with the intention of turning them into lifelong customers. They initially provide free drugs to get children hooked, later transitioning them into paying clients. Exploiting legal protections under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, these peddlers often use children as couriers, knowing they will face minimal consequences if caught with drugs—typically released within few days. To sustain their habits, children frequently resort to petty crime.
Raja, now started to steal from his own home to buy drugs. Same is the situation in Nizamuddin slums.
Drug abuse is increasing in the society. These kind of write hardly have impact on Political leaders as they never raise this issue during election it smacks as if they get funding from drugs mafia.
*Name changed
