Delhi: Brother’s arrival ends DNA hunt for fire victim

NEW DELHI: The search for DNA to match that of Geeta, a victim of the fire at Mundka whose body was among the many charred beyond recognition, ended with her younger brother reaching the city on Friday. Police said Mantu Kumar, Geeta’s brother, arrived from Bihar’s Nawada with his younger sister to provide the DNA sample.
Speaking to TOI on Friday, Kumar said, “Geeta was the eldest among us and a pillar of strength. She regularly sent us money and even visited home around six month ago. Our family learnt what happened in the fire, but we have told our mother that Geeta is sick and undergoing treatment at a hospital.”
A fire in a CCTV camera and router manufacturing company in Mundka last Friday killed 27 people, 21 of them women. Investigation showed that the razed four-storey building did not have fire safety clearance or the licence to operate a manufacturing unit. The bodies recovered were burnt beyond recognition. While a few families managed to identify their loved ones, recognising their kin was impossible for the rest. DNA samples of 26 families had been collected to match with those of the corpses and identify them, but there were none to submit a sample for Geeta.
Kumar said that the family heard about the devastating fire, but hadn’t realised that Geeta was one of the victims. He said, “We contacted the house owner of the room she was staying in, but he did not have anything concrete to tell us, leaving the family in the dark. However, my younger sister’s husband works here, so he went to the police station and the hospital and then informed us about Geeta and the need for us to submit a DNA sample.”
Kumar said that Geeta was the eldest among six siblings, three brothers and three sisters. She lived alone in Pravesh Nagar in Mubarakpur Dabas, her husband having died earlier. Kumar remembered how she regularly sent money home to Bihar. But the uncertain family is still seeking closure. “Yes, we have been told by her fellow workers that she couldn’t escape the blaze and died in the factory. So, I guess she is not with us any longer. But we will still wait for the DNA report to be sure of her death.”