The death toll in Delhi’s communal violence has reached to 42 on Friday, the second highest after 1984 Sikh riots. More than 250 people are still being treated in three hospitals in the national capital. Relatives were disparately seen outside the waited outside the mortuary of the GTB Hospital to receive the bodies of their loved ones.
The Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital has recorded 38 deaths, the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital three, and the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital has reported one. The areas which mainly affected of violence include Jafrabad, Maujpur, Chand Bagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura.
Recalling the horror, they said that they have been left traumatised by the incident.
“It was very disturbing scene in my area. I witnessed violent clashes between people of two communities. My father closed all the doors and windows and kept inside for two days,” said Pravej Alam, a resident of Maujpur who visit GTB hospital where one of his friends was admitted with head injury.
“I had never anticipated the level of violence in the city. “There was chaos like situation all around and we were only running to save our lives as residents were being attacked by armed mobs,” said Arman Malik, a resident of Karawal Nagar.
Salim Khan (24), a resident of Gokulpuri, said he was near his house on Tuesday night when a mob poured a chemical on his back that caused his skin to burn.
“Some unidentified people caught me near my house and poured an acid-like liquid on my back. I have no idea what the substance was. It was very hot and my skin started burning as soon as they poured it on me,” he said.
He said he was brought to the hospital by police around 11 pm. Akil Saifi (30), who works with a private company, said he was thrashed by some people in Gokulpuri, which was among the areas worst-hit by the violence.
“When I was returning home from office on Tuesday around 8.30 pm, some unidentified people stopped my motorcycle and started beating me as they saw skull cap on the head of my friend who was riding pillion. His name is Bilal and he is handicapped,” he said.
“The fingers of my left hand were fractured and Bilal sustained minor injuries,” he added. At least 34 people were killed and over 200 injured in the communal clashes that broke out in northeast Delhi after violence between supporters of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and those opposing it spiralled out of control on Sunday.
