He told me he’d be back for dinner, says mother

“He left from home at 8 am after I told him to go to work. He said he would come home at night. The next thing we heard was that he was in the hospital,” said Ishrat, his mother.

He had promised his mother he would be home in time for dinner. But little did he know that Tuesday morning was the last time he would ever speak to her.

Maqsood, 19, who was mauled by a white tiger at the Delhi Zoo, was mentally unstable and was undergoing treatment, his family members and former co-workers said.

“He left from home at 8 am after I told him to go to work. He said he would come home at night. The next thing we heard was that he was in the hospital,” said Ishrat, his mother.

The police called the family from his mobile phone and told them to reach the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where they were informed that Maqsood had died.

Maqsood’s father said the zoo officials were slow to respond. “Security officials and the zoo staff did not respond as quickly as they should have. If they had reacted immediately my son would be alive. We will complain against the officials,” said Mehfooz, Maqsood’s father. Maqsood worked in a small carton factory in Anand Parbat.

According to Lalji, a worker who knew him well, Maqsood mostly kept to himself.

“He did not come to work regularly and did not talk much. After a fight broke out between him and another employee, workers did not talk to him much.

He had also mentioned once that he gone to the zoo a few months back as well,” he said.