As normalcy returns in riot-hit Delhi, families of victims face police apathy, hardship

While Delhi is slowly limping back to normalcy, the families of those who lost their lives after clashes broke out between pro and anti-CAA protesters in the northeast Delhi killing several people are facing police apathy, lack of coordination and delay in getting the bodies of their loved ones outside the mortuary of the government hospitals.

NEW DELHI: While Delhi is slowly limping back to normalcy, the families of those who lost their lives after clashes broke out between pro and anti-CAA protesters in the northeast Delhi, killing several people and leaving hundreds of others injured, are facing police apathy, lack of coordination and delay in getting the bodies of their loved ones outside the mortuary of the government hospitals.

Many such families, which lost their loved one, narrated their woes outside the GTB Hospital mortuary to reporters. Grieving relatives, who lost their loved ones in a communal riot in northeast Delhi, said the least the authorities could do is be "sympathetic" to them.

The family of one Ashfaq Hussain had been waiting at the hospital since Wednesday to get his body. Hussain, who had got married on February 14, was killed during the violence that erupted in northeast Delhi earlier this week.

"They (the hospital authorities) have not even kept the bodies in a freezer. The bodies have started decomposing and smell is emanating from them," said Hussain's brother.

Another relative of Hussain said,"The authorities are not doing anything. If the GTB Hospital doesn't have facilities for conducting autopsy of many bodies in a day, they should have sent the bodies to other hospitals."

The violence that unfolded in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajan Pura, Yamuna Vihar areas of northeast Delhi earlier this week have claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured while also unleashing large scale mob-led destruction of properties.

Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel. Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh and Shiv Vihar are among the areas severely affected by the riots.

The family of Dilbar Singh Negi had come from Uttarakhand to claim his body and said they were made to run for paperwork in a city which they are not familiar with.

"We are from Uttarakhand and we do not know which police station is located where. We were asked to go to Gokalpuri police station to complete the formalities, where we were made to sit the whole day. We have already experienced a tragedy but things like these are more hurting us," said a family member of Negi.

Many other families said the Delhi Police could have set up a help desk for families.

"There are many families who come here everyday and go back dejected. Many of them are uneducated and do not even have relevant documents and face trouble in paperwork. We are trying to assist them," said Mumtaz, a lawyer from Krishna Nagar, who has been helping families outside the hospital's mortuary.

Nasir, brother of Aamir and Hashim, who were killed during the riots, said the family is waiting for the bodies for burial. "The autopsy has not been conducted yet. I have learnt that the autopsy will be conducted tomorrow," he said.

A family member of a deceased, requesting anonymity, said, "We have heard from other persons too and even experienced ourselves that when we call up the investigating officer of our case for some paperwork, he says he was unwell. Even other families experienced similar things where the IO in case says he was either in the court or posted in the riot-hit area."