Families stuck in limbo, not sure if their loved ones are dead or alive
nNEWDELHI: The last time 35-yearold Firoz Ahmed, a resident of Karawal Nagar, called his wife was eight days ago when rioters went on the rampage on the streets of north-east Delhi. For Ahmed’s wife Shahana, 31, his last phone call—he has been missing since—his voice, have become her life source.
The family has been visiting the mortuaries of nearby hospitals every day — with the hope of some news, even if it means finding his body. On Monday, they went to Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in central Delhi, where the police had sent five newly found bodies for autopsy.
“Firoz was a salesman at a shop in Chandni Chowk and was returning home when rioters attacked him on Monday. He had called his wife around 6pm to say he was caught in the violence but will find his way home. When he didn’t return till Wednesday, we filed a missing complaint,” said Mohd Ashraf, a relative, who lives in Loni in Ghaziabad.
Around 10 pm the same day, Ashraf said, somebody called up to say they had saved Firoz and that he was beaten up brutally. “After about an hour, we tried calling up the number again to check on him but both his and Firoz’s numbers had been switched off. His wife is inconsolable. He was the sole breadwinner. We have looked everywhere, we just hope we find his body soon so that we can perform his last rites,” Ashraf said.
Four unclaimed bodies were lying at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital’s mortuary. Since Sunday, at least 20 families had come forward to identify these.
At least 11 people are still missing from riot-torn areas, according to a log maintained by a group of volunteers who had been helping people coming over to GTB hospital to find their family members. For some, the search ended at the hospital’s mortuary, for others it is still far from over.
Despite many calls, Joint commissioner of police Alok Kumar and additional commissioner of police (crime) Mandeep Singh Randhawa could not be reached for a comment neither did they respond to text messages.
We have been keeping a record of all families who have been coming here to search for their members as well as those died in the riots. It is tougher for people who still don’t have a clue as to what happened to their relatives. We help them identify the bodies and reach out to police to file a missing complaint,” said Mumtaz, a volunteer.
Momina Hussain,57, was camping outside GTB hospital’s mortuary till 12pm, with her three-year-old grandson Akhtar, to find her son and his wife when the volunteers told her that all newly found bodies were being taken to RML hospital.
Momina’s 29-year-old son Shahzad and his 23-year-old wife Sultana had gone out to meet a relative in Shiv Vihar on Monday and did not return. “There are times when I feel relieved he (Akhtar) did not go with his parents. But then how will be his life now? His parents must be dead, otherwise we would have got some news,” Momina said.
Sheila Shukla reached Delhi from Agra on Friday after her relatives failed to provide any information about the whereabouts of her husband, 42-yearold Prabir Shukla. She was seen waiting outside the mortuary. But unlike others she believed her husband was alive. “This is just a formality. He must have got caught in the middle of the violence and had taken refuge somewhere. We will hear from him,” she said. Her husband has been missing from Gautam Vihar since Tuesday.
In nearby Hussain Vihar, Shehbaz, 22, has been missing since Tuesday. His brother Matloob Alam said he had last spoken to Shehbaz around 2.30 pm that day .
“He was returning home from an eye hospital, as he used to do welding work and was hurt. He reached Khajoori Khas from where he could not find any conveyance. He called to say a mob was stopping everyone to check their identities before attacking them but that he will walk back home by the back alleys. We kept calling him after that but his phone was switched off. My mother has lost all hope. He was the youngest of six siblings,” Alam said.
The family is now depending on a DNA test of an unidentified body at GTB hospital, hoping it is of Shehbaz, his brother said.