$file1 = s/(\W)/\\$1/; # and similarly for other filenames

##</code><code>##

foreach $d ( @dirs ) {
   -e $d or die;         # works
   -d $d or die;         # works
   $d =~ s/(\W)/\\$1/g;
   system("touch $d");   # touch can't find it, it prints an error!!!
}