Delhi riots death toll likely to climb close to 50

At least 24 families are still waiting at GTB Hospital for the hospital to release the bodies. They are stuck between the delaying tactics of Delhi Police and the Delhi government

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NH photo
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Ashlin Mathew

The death toll in the orchestrated violence which broke out in north-east Delhi is likely to touch 50 as the rampage has not subsided in various parts of the area. There were 33 deaths officially recorded at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in Dilshad Garden alone.

“At GTB Hospital, there have been 33 deaths officially recorded. More than 225 of those injured in the clashes were brought to GTB since Monday, of which at least 55 are in the hospital currently. Three are in Intensive Care Unit,” an official of the hospital said.

The official count does not include the deaths at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP)Hospital, Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital or the nursing homes around Mustafabad, Krawal Nagar, Loni, Jaffrabad and Seelampur, which were the worst hit by the brutality. Unofficially, there are at least five dead bodies at LNJP Hospital, and more bodies are being found in drains in the riot-hit areas.

The targeted attacks continued at Karawal Nagar near Loni even on Thursday. Men not walking in groups were being targeted by an armed mob. At 6.30 pm on Thursday, 15-year-old Sakib was brought into the hospital with severe injuries. He makes chapatis at local weddings and was on his way back home from work when he was accosted by a mob and beaten up.

Additionally, even after four days of the rioting, many families are still waiting at GTB Hospital for the hospital to conduct a post-mortem and then release the bodies. Of the 33 deaths registered at GTB Hospital, doctors have conducted post-mortems only on nine of them, leaving several families distraught. They have been stuck in between the hospital, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government, and the Delhi Police which reports to the Union Home Ministry under Amit Shah. This is despite several of the bodies being there since Monday.

According to procedures, if an unnatural death happens, it has to be reported to the local police station. A police official, who is also known as the inquiry officer (IO), has to write a slip with details of the dead person and it includes the reason for death. This slip has to be submitted to the Board at the hospital. The Board at the Hospital has to be constituted by the Heath Secretary under the Delhi government and it will comprise three professors who are forensic experts. The Board can conduct the post-mortem only when identification slips are issued by the Delhi Police. There was a delay in constituting the board too which was formally put in place only on Tuesday.


“The Hospital can conduct the post-mortem only if the IO submits the report. The Delhi Police has been delaying the submission of these slips,” said the official at GTB Hospital. However, when he was asked about the delay in constituting the board, the official skipped the question.

“We have been here since Tuesday. My brother was beaten to death on February 24. A mob of at least 40 men barged into our home on the third floor at Bhagirathi Vihar. They beat up my husband and dragged my brother out. We found his body in the drain near our house. We got him to the hospital on February 25. But so far the post-mortem has not been conducted. We don’t know how long we will have to wait,” said an anguished Farhana.

Saira Begum was also at the hospital waiting for the post-mortem report of her mentally-challenged 22-year-old brother Mahtab, who was thrashed by a mob when he had just stepped out of the house. “When he didn’t return home, we went looking for him and found him lying in a pool of blood a little away from home. We took him to Mehr Nursing Home and then we got him here on Tuesday. The authorities don’t want to take responsibility, instead they keep making us run around,” underscored Begum, who was crying inconsolably.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Ram Niwas, who had come to GTB Hospital, too had no answers when he was asked about the delay in releasing the dead bodies after post-mortem, but he was quick to deflect the blame to the IO. “The Board can conduct post-mortems only after the IO submits his reports. Delhi police is delaying it deliberately,” underscored Niwas who refused to answer why there had been a delay in constituting the board.

“We are preparing the slips. It will take time. Four post-mortems were conducted on Wednesday, five have been conducted so far on Thursday. We will do all of them. We also need time,” said a Delhi police inspector, who wanted to be called Tyagi.

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