Toll mounts to 47 as families await DNA test result to claim their dead
Police say five more bodies recovered, all of them decomposed; doctors say they will rely on DNA analysis to ascertain identity
NEW DELHI: The death toll in the communal riots in north-east Delhi rose to 47 on Monday with five more bodies being found in drains in several areas over 24 hours, police said. Since all five bodies had started decomposing, police said the only way for the next of kin to identify them is by the clothes, otherwise they will have to conduct DNA test to ascertain their identity.
“The bodies are decomposed and are beyond recognition. We will first try to show the families that come to claim the dead, the clothes and other articles found on the body to help them identify them. But in case they are unable to do so, we will have to conduct DNA analysis. Right now, we are not even sending the family members inside as the dead bodies are in very bad shape,” said a staff member from the Ram Manohar Lohia mortuary, where the bodies have been kept.
After 42 riot-affected families ended the search for their loved ones in city hospitals, all that remains in the mortuary of GTB hospital is a severed leg and an upper body that will need DNA analysis for identification.
As these body parts have not been included in the death toll, it is likely to rise further. “So far, we have been able to confirm 41 deaths related to the riots, we are still trying to understand whether six others also died in the riots. If the body parts are identified as separate people then it will be added to the toll,” a police official said, on condition of anonymity.
DAUGHTER CLAIMS FATHER’S LEG
Salim Qasser has claimed that the leg belonged to his elder brother Anwar. “My brother had a rough heel as he was not in the habit of wearing slippers. Only the heel and a bit of the calf were left,” he said.
The 58-year-old lived alone in his rented house in Shiv Vihar, where he reared goats. His wife had died in childbirth. Gulshan, his only daughter, had last spoken to him at 11am last Tuesday. “After that, his phone was switched off. We could not go to the area because of the situation, but his neighbours told us that the house has been burnt,” she said.
“They killed my father and the 20 goats that was his livelihood. He was taking care of my family; he used to pay for everything – the food, the school fees of my children. Now what will I do?” she said. An accident in which acid fell on his face left Gulshan’s husband, Naseeruddin, blind.
“I used to work in a bed-sheet cleaning shop and in an accident some acid fell on my face. Now, I cannot see anything. I cannot take care of my family and now that my father-in-law has died, what will I do?” he said.
WAITING FOR DNA TEST RESULT
The family of Mohsin Ali, 24, is awaiting the results of DNA test to put him to rest. “The body will be released only after a DNA test confirms it was his. And, how long will the test take we do not know. The entire family is waiting for it,” said Haider Ali, his cousin.
Looking through the unidentified dead bodies stored in the mortuary, Mohsin’s cousin and father thought they had found him on Wednesday. On Thursday,
they realised it was not him.
“The face was very similar, but our first clue was when the bandage on the head was removed. The hair was longer. Mohsin had shaved his head recently. Then we looked for other clues. There were cut marks on the arms of the body and a scar on the leg that Mohsin doesn’t have. There were no pants but we had noticed earlier too that the t-shirt was different from what he was wearing on the day he went missing. All this showed that it was not him,” said the cousin Haider Ali.
The police had found a charred body next to a burnt car, which the family now suspects is his.
Mohsin used to set up generators for events and had gone to
Chand Bagh from his home in Noida. His family has been unable to trace him since all three of his numbers in two cell phones were switched off at around 5:30pm on Tuesday.
BJP leader Atif Rasheed, member of the National Commission for Minorities, said, “I spoke to the BJP members in Hapur. Mohsin was the vice-president of the party’s minority cell in Hapur. He had a business of generator sets which he used to supply on rent in Delhi and Greater Noida. The DNA sample has been taken and we are waiting for the reports.”
Haider, however, said Mohsin just worked with them for two or three months and had made posters with his photos at that time.