New Delhi: Frantic search for the whereabouts of persons missing in the riots continued at different hospitals of Delhi and for the family of 22-year-old Monis it ended at the GTB Hospital morgue.
Monis mother was wailing outside the mortuary as the family was called inside. They identified his body. He was missing since February 25.
His cousin Ibrahim said Monis had gone to visit his mother in Badli and was returning to Mustafabad where he worked as a labourer.
“He told me around 3.30 pm that he was stuck near Yamuna Vihar since communal violence was going on, but assured me that he would reach home safely. But he didn’t and his phone has been switched off since,” he said.
“We had searched for him in seven hospitals, including AIIMS and Safdarjung. We even approached the office of Haji Yunus and they told us that they will forward our complaint to police but to no avail,” Ibrahim said.
They finally searched for him at GTB Hospital and found his body.
However, for the family of 35-year-old Mohammad Feroze the search didn’t end at the GTB hospital. His wife Shabana said he was returning from work to his home in Loni, when he was beaten up.
“His phone was probably broken during that attack. He was saved by a Muslim family who gave him shelter. He called his nephew and me from their phone on February 24 but since then there has been no contact,” she said.
Recalling her last conversation with him, she said, “He said he had been beaten up and couldn’t talk much since there was no electricity as the wires had been damaged by rioters and the phone’s battery was about to die. He said, ‘This is probably our last conversation. Don’t know when we will talk again’.”
Shabana said they have learnt that the house where he was given shelter has been burnt down. “We don’t know where he is,” she said with a heavy voice.
“Feroze might be alive. But he had said that he was badly injured. He was quite weak and was suffering from tuberculosis. We will go to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital to look for him,” said a family member.
PTI