Over 700 bars in Kerala have won a reprieve from Supreme Court. (Representational photo)
It was 33-year-old Subha's funeral. As her son lit the pyre, his grandmother's wailing grew louder. She was inconsolable.
Subha, who suffered 90 per cent burns, died on Sunday night. In her statement to hospital authorities, she said that her husband set her on fire because she had refused to give him money to buy alcohol.
Her husband, Sreekanth, has been arrested on charges of murder.
Subha's family says, she and her husband used to fight often, and that he was seldom sober. According to the Kerala Women's Commission, her case is not rare.
"Majority of complaints of domestic violence that have been coming to us are usually of women whose husbands are under the influence of alcohol," says Pramila Devi, a member of the Kerala Women's Commission.
In Kerala, one out of five cases of hospitalisations is linked to alcohol and substance abuse, says the Alcohol & Drug Information Centre (ADIC), an adviser to the World Health Organisation and the Kerala government on policies related to substance abuse.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau and prison records, 59 per cent crimes and 40 per cent of road traffic accidents recorded in Kerala are related to alcohol abuse.
"In Kerala, most are not social drinkers, especially the daily drinkers. They come under category of hazardous drinkers, they have in bottles and not pegs...," says Johnson S Edayaranmula, Director at ADIC India.
Nearly 18 per cent of alcohol consumers in Kerala's bars are aged below 18. Even though the official drinking age here is 21 years, the minimum age of consumption has dropped to 14 years.
Though Keralites have rarely questioned the need to reduce alcohol consumption or its sale, questions abound over the recent order for shutting down bars. The state government's had ordered the closure of around 700 liquor outlets and bars, which the Supreme Court recently stayed.
"Everyone wants the level of alcohol in Kerala checked but there are other ways for it.This is not the manner in which it should be implemented, business will be affected,economy will be affected. It has been a hasty decision," says Suresh Pillai, Director of Horizon Hotel.