Girl on crusade to close liquor shops in Tamil Nadu

TAMIL Nesan reported that a 10-year-old girl held a public protest together with her father demanding a total prohibition of alcohol in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Jothimani took part in a hunger strike with her father Mohanraj, 37, on Tuesday to ask for all liquor shops to be closed down.

Mohanraj, a labourer, has had a long history of struggling with alcohol addiction.

He admitted that his family had suffered a lot and lost their social status due to his drinking habit, though he later successfully underwent rehabilitation to kick the habit.

Jothimani said that after the recovery of her father, she decided to preach the evils of liquor to the people, and hoped that this year would be a liquor-free year in Tamil Nadu.

> Malaysia Nanban reported the case of a 21-year-old girl who committed suicide on Nov 23 at her home in Bangalore, South India, following years of abuse by her father.

The girl’s mother, Shakunthalam-ma, alleged that her unemployed husband Panduranga had both verbally and sexually harassed their daughter Chetana before she took her own life.

She said that last year, Panduranga had assaulted Chetana, who studied engineering at Nagarjuna Engineering College.

?  Found in Translation is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.