Delhi riots: At mortuaries, unending wait to identify the dead

Apart from the 38 who died at or were brought dead to GTB hospital, three died at Lok Nayak hospital, and one died on Monday at Jag Parvesh Chandra hospital.

The death toll of the riots in north-east Delhi rose to 42 on Friday after three more dead bodies were pulled out of drains and another person succumbed at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.

Relatives wait to collect the body of a deceased person who was killed during communal violence in northeast Delhi area over the amended citizenship law, outside GTB hospital mortuary, in New Delhi. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

Apart from the 38 who died at or were brought dead to GTB hospital, three died at Lok Nayak hospital, and one died on Monday at Jag Parvesh Chandra hospital.

Almost all the injured and all but one of the dead who have been identified by HT were men.

Days after the violence abated, family members of those missing visited the mortuary of Guru Teg Bahadur hospital as a last resort.

For the family of Mohsin Ali, 24, the visit led to confusion and uncertainty. Looking through the unidentified dead bodies stored in the mortuary, Mohsin’s cousin and father thought they had found him. Outside, his father Sajid Ali broke down while his cousin completed the paperwork. On Thursday morning, they realised it was not him.

The hair was longer, there were cut marks on the arms and the clothes were different.

“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,” said the cousin, Haider Ali.

Police found a charred body next to a completely burnt car that was identified as Mohsin’s. Now, the family is waiting for the results of a DNA test which will likely come on Saturday evening.

Six bodies at the GTB mortuary remain unidentified.

The family of Mubarak Ali, who was missing since Monday, came to the hospital mortuary to identify the body listed as Mubarak’s . “We just saw the body but it is not him,” said Chand Rizvi, his brother-in-law.