Hooked at 9 and 12: Viral Video Exposes Kapurthala Brothers' Drug Use, Peddler Arrested9 ਤੇ 12 ਸਾਲ ਦੇ ਭਰਾ ਨਸ਼ੇ ਦੀ ਲਪੇਟ ਵਿੱਚ: ਕਪੂਰਥਲਾ ਵੀਡੀਓ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਤਸਕਰ ਗ੍ਰਿਫ਼ਤਾਰ

A video that no one in Punjab wanted to see did what years of anti-drug campaigning could not: it forced the system to move within hours. The clip, which spread across social media on Wednesday, shows a nine-year-old boy in a Kapurthala village openly consuming drugs. By Thursday, both he and his 12-year-old brother had tested positive on dope tests, been taken to hospital, and the man accused of hooking them had been arrested.

Two children in treatment

Kapurthala police rushed the brothers to the local civil hospital on Thursday. The nine-year-old has been sent to the drug de-addiction centre at Government Medical College, Amritsar, while his elder brother will be treated at Kapurthala civil hospital. Once their treatment is complete, both boys will be handed over to the district child welfare committee, police said. The brothers are school dropouts being raised by a single mother who works as a daily-wage labourer.

Hooked two months ago

Bholath DSP Sukhpal Singh said a probe is under way to trace the supply chain, and that preliminary investigation shows the younger boy was introduced to drugs about two months ago. Police say the village sits close to known drug hotspots, the villages of Naharpur and Lakhan Khurd, in the Subhanpur-Kartarpur belt of the district.

The accused filmed them, police say

Police have arrested Paramjit Singh, 32, a resident of New Shanti Nagar in the Islamabad area of Hoshiarpur, who was staying at a relative's house in the boys' village. Subhanpur SHO Amandeep Kumar said officers recovered a mobile phone from the accused containing footage of the child consuming drugs; in the clip, the accused can allegedly be seen handing drugs to the boy and forcing him to consume them. The brothers identified Paramjit Singh as the man who repeatedly forced them into drug abuse. He is in one-day police custody. A case has been registered under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and sections 29, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act.

Why children this young are at risk

Damanjit Sandhu, a professor of psychology at Punjabi University, Patiala, who specialises in adolescent psychology, said children of this age have not yet developed full decision-making ability, and that peer pressure is rarely the driver at such a young age. Childhood trauma, vulnerability, neglect and the child's immediate social environment all contribute to early dependence, she said, adding that just as children are taught about good touch and bad touch, they must now be warned never to accept or consume anything given by strangers or acquaintances.

The case has put the police and the civil administration on the back foot at a time when the state government says its Yudh Nashian Virudh campaign is tackling drug abuse on a war footing, and when the drug crisis sits at the centre of the ongoing Punjab Assembly session.

What happened to the two brothers?

Both boys, aged 9 and 12, tested positive for drugs. The younger is being treated at the de-addiction centre in Amritsar and the elder at Kapurthala civil hospital, after which the district child welfare committee will take charge of them.

Who has been arrested?

Police have arrested Paramjit Singh, 32, of Hoshiarpur, accused of introducing the children to drugs, forcing them to consume them and filming the abuse.

How did the case come to light?

A video of the nine-year-old openly consuming drugs went viral on social media on Wednesday, prompting immediate police action.