’84 riots widow finally gets husband’s death certificate

Kiranjit Kaur’s ordeal is finally over. For 26 years, she has been running from pillar to post, from Patiala to New Delhi, for her husband Narinderjit Singh’s death certificate.

Kiranjit Kaur’s ordeal is finally over. For 26 years, she has been running from pillar to post, from Patiala to New Delhi, for her husband Narinderjit Singh’s death certificate.

HT Image

Singh, a teacher, was killed on November 1, 1984 during the anti-Sikh riots that broke out following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

On April 27, the Delhi High Court ordered the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Vasant Vihar to release Singh’s death certificate within six weeks, after verifying the particulars.

“Petitioner has been waiting for relief for over two decades, there should be no further delay,” the judge said.

Kaur lost her husband barely a year after their marriage. At the age of 22, with a two-month-old son, she started her struggle to get her husband’s death certificate. “I was new to Delhi. From policemen to babus everybody deceived me. They sent me from the DCP’s office in Tis Hazari court complex to the SDM’s office in Punjabi Bagh” Kaur told HT.

Her son Harsimranjit Randhawa is now a law graduate. “I saw my mother running around to get my dad’s death certificate,” he told HT. “Once we get it, we will apply for compensation.”