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Many beedi rollers, for instance, are vulnerable to lung damage and tuberculosis due to their dangerous work, said Rashmitha.

Saw her walk to the town, along the narrow lane which ran past the tannery, following it to where it broadened with beedi shops along one side and tawdry stalls on the other, where men with bold eyes lounged smoking or drinking from frothing toddy pots.

The fruit seller smoked his beedi and occasionally sang a few lines in a croaky voice.

Zaheer’s friend Naseem Ahmed was standing in the lane across the beedi stall at the time, Naseem said.

He described seeing Zaheer buy the beedi and sit down on a ledge next to the shop.