TNR News Network
Shimla: In a chilling reminder of how synthetic drugs are tearing families apart, a youth addicted to chitta allegedly assaulted his own mother and forced her to break a fixed deposit to fund his habit.
The distressing account was shared by Theog SDM Shashank Gupta at a legal awareness camp in Matiyana, underscoring how drug abuse has crept right up to the doorstep of ordinary homes.
The camp was organised jointly by the National Legal Services Authority and the State Legal Services Authority. Officials said the episode reflects a growing and deeply worrying trend of addiction-driven violence within families.
Son meant to support woman tears her apart
Recounting the mother’s ordeal, the SDM said she had approached his office in tears, saying her son had beaten her and compelled her to prematurely break an FD.
The money, she said, was used to buy chitta, after which the youth consumed the drug.
The woman told officials she had been suffering for a long time because of her son’s addiction. “He was supposed to be my support in old age,” she said, pleading that she did not want to lose him but wanted him reformed and admitted to a good deaddiction centre.
SDM, police step in; warning on ‘gateway’ addictions
Gupta said he immediately spoke to police officers, who counselled the youth and were instructed to keep a close watch on him. He warned that addiction often began with bidi, cigarettes or alcohol before escalating to synthetic drugs like chitta.
Echoing the concern, DSPs present at the camp said those addicted must seek proper medical treatment at hospitals, stressing that addiction was a health issue as much as a law-and-order challenge.
Chitta cases rising, peer pressure key trigger
Officials said cases involving synthetic drugs were rising every year in Himachal Pradesh. Under the state government’s ‘Chitta Mukt Himachal’ campaign, an anti-chitta awareness campaign is underway, with walkathons being organised across the state. The government has also announced rewards for those who provide information against drug traffickers.
DSP Siddharth Sharma said that in the Theog area alone, around 1.7 kg of chitta has been seized over the past three years, with a single dose costing between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000. “Every third youth has, at some point, consumed drugs,” he said, adding that he has interacted with nearly 2,000 addicted youths so far. “Over 90% told us their first dose was offered by a friend or peer group. That’s where the addiction begins,” he said.
