Two-thirds of dead, injured at GTB during violence between 20-40 yrs
nNEW DELHI: Almost 66% of all those who died at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital after the communal riots in Northeast Delhi were men between the ages of 20 and 40 years, according to data from the hospital.
The trend was similar among those injured, with almost two in three being men within the same age group.
At least forty-four people were either brought dead to the hospital or died during treatment, a result of the riots. Almost 300 injured were treated at the hospital during and after the riots. Only one among the deceased was a woman – 85-year-old Khajuri Khas resident Akbari.
The genders of two of the bodies were not known as the bodies had been charred, according to hospital data.
GTB hospital saw the worst to the riots, having received the highest number of casualties and those injured. In total, 53 people died in the riots and over 400 were injured.
“Usually, whenever there are disasters like this, we see it is the young men who are injured or killed. And the data from the hospital substantiates that. Almost all the people who were brought to the hospital were men in their productive age,” Dr Sunil Kumar, medical director of the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital
had earlier told Hindustan Times.
The hospital data also shows that the most common cause of the deaths was assault and burn injuries, killing 24 of the 44 who died in the riots at the hospital. The family of 58-year-old Anwar and 24-year-old Mohsin Ali had to wait for DNA analysis to identify the charred body and body parts.
Gunshots killed thirteen people, according to the data.
Of the 298 injured, 170 had blunt trauma from assault or burn injuries, 67 had gunshot wounds and 30 others had minor injuries, the hospital data shows.
“Men in the productive age group dying or being disabled are blows to the society; it is a terrible thing. To understand the impact, you just have to look at World War II when England faced a similar situation. The difference is they had more social security, whereas in India we do not have a safety net. Also, these are mostly the earning members of their family,” said one psychiatrist from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, on condition of anonymity.
“Without going into any other aspect, it is the young men who are at the forefront of such activities, owing to the young age of the victims and the high energy levels, as opposed to the vulnerable groups,” said Dr Nimesh Desai, director, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS).