New Delhi: A 24-year-old man stepped out of his house and was there for less than a minute when a bullet hit him on right side of his stomach and he died on the spot. Similarly a 22-year-old went to buy milk but never returned.
The kin of the dead victims shared horrific tales of the nightmare when violence shook northeast Delhi over protests in favour of and against the Citizenship Amendment Act Saturday.
There was also delay in handing over the bodies to the families. Outside GTB hospital morgue there was a huge crowd to claim the corpses.
One woman told IANS: “We have been waiting since Monday but the body has not been handed over yet. No one is telling us from the hospital why they are delaying it and how much time it will take.”
She added “My nephew stepped out to buy milk on Monday evening around 5 p.m. but never returned. Later we received a call that he was admitted at the burn ward at Meher nursing home. When we went there he was declared dead. We came to know that he was burnt alive by the mob. We live in Brijpuri but his body was found in Mustafabad. We are still living in fear.”
Another woman remembered while speaking to IANS that her brother had just stepped out of the house and stood there for less than a minute. “A bullet came from somewhere and hit him in right of his stomach. He began bleeding heavily. We rushed him to a nearby hospital but they refused to admit him and referred us to GTB. But by the time we reached he was dead.”
She also said there is still tension inside the narrow streets at Babu Nagar but police is marching on main roads of Karawal Nagar. “We are scared. My mother and other sister are locked inside the house.”
One man told IANS that his brother stepped out to buy food for his children but was hit by a bullet in his right leg. “By the time we brought him to hospital, he died due to excessive bleeding. There were no shops open in Kardampuri area that”s why he was going to a nearby colony to buy food.”
He said: “I have lived here for 38 years but have never seen such tension in my area. Both communities live peacefully. Hundreds of people roaming in the area with iron rods, glass bottles and shooting in the air, hitting innocents. I want this madness to end.”