Among the people who lost their lives in the violence on Monday was a policeman who reported for duty despite being unwell, a man whose wife is three-month pregnant, and a brother whose sister is scheduled to get married in April.
Outside Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital mortuary on Tuesday, the families of these three victims were seen waiting to receive the bodies. The victims who have been identified are head constable Ratan Lal, Mohammed Furkan, Shahid Khan, Nazim, Vinod and Rahul Solanki.
‘An honest officer’
Lal’s brother-in-law Deepak Bari remembered the constable as an honest officer who did not take a penny of unearned money. “He had a high fever on Monday. His wife asked him to take a leave but he still reported to duty. What else could he do in such a situation and when there were fewer officers?” said Mr. Deepak from Jaipur.
Lal, the sole breadearner in his family, lived in Burari with his wife and three children. Mr. Deepak said Lal’s wife received a call at 4 p.m. stating that he has been injured and is critical. “She then called us. We switched on the television when we saw news of his death. We immediately left for Delhi,” he said. She does not believe that Lal is no more, Mr. Deepak saidon Tuesday afternoon. “She is in a state of shock and is telling me to bring him home. She is waiting. What should I say to her?”
Advised not to cry
Another victim, Shahid, whose wife is three-month pregnant has been advised not to cry. The two got married in September 2019. The 22-year-old victim from New Mustafabad used to drive an autorickshaw for a living.
Shahid’s brother Imran (25) said their cousin received the news of his death on WhatsApp in their hometown in Bulandshahr. “He received Shahid’s photos on WhatsApp and called me. We went looking for him but couldn’t find him for two hours. After some time, we were told that he was shot in Bhajanpura,” Mr. Imran said.
Subsequently, the family was informed that he has been brought to a nursing home close to their residence. The family then went there to receive his body. “We kept his body on the street for an hour not knowing what to do. Elders in the area then suggested to take him to hospital for post-mortem. He was shot in the chest,” Mr. Imran said, adding that they don’t know who shot him. “He had left for work in the morning and that is all we know”.
A resident of Dayalpur’s Babu Nagar, Hari Singh Solanki, lost his 26-year-old son Rahul in the violence. He blamed the police for his son’s death. “The situation near our house was getting tense when I called 112 [emergency helpline number of Delhi Police] at around 3 p.m. twice. I also called a few police officers. They kept assuring me that they would turn up but not even a single officer came to the spot,” he alleged. At 5.45 p.m., Rahul left home to get milk and never returned. Sometime later, his father was informed that someone shot Rahul. “We took him to a nearby nursing home but they refused to treat him. We wanted to take him to GTB Hospital straight but the road was blocked due to the clashes. We then took him to a Loni government hospital but we had lost him by then,” the father said.
Rahul’s sister was due to get married on April 27 but “now what will happen?” the father cried. Another victim Vinod Kumar from Brahmpuri was stoned to death on Monday night, his family said. Vinod’s son Monu said they had gone out when stones were pelted at them. “Nobody came to help us,” said the son, who also sustained injuries. On Monday, Mohammed Furkan’s brother Mohammed Imran said he looked for him in GTB Hospital’s Emergency for a while before he could finally find his body. “I asked the doctor if I could take him to a private hospital but he said he was dead,” the brother said. Mr. Imran said his brother was not a part of the protest.