Delhi violence: Victims recount tales of horror

Recalling how she and her two daughters were forced to flee their home after a mob allegedly barged in and molested them on Wednesday (February 28) night, a 45-year-old woman at northeast Delhi’s Al-Hind Hospital, said, “We jumped from the first floor with dupattas wrapped around our bodies to save ourselves.”

The nightmare ended only after the women entered a Muslim-dominated lane. “I was at home when a mob barged in. I and my two daughters were molested and our clothes torn by the mob,” the quadragenarian, who runs an NGO in Karawal Nagar, said with tears in her eyes.

She said the mob chased them but stopped and eventually disappeared after they sought refuge in the house of Ayub Ahmed, a grocery shop owner known to them. “When we reached Ahmed’s house, he gave us food and other necessary things and later brought us to the Al-Hind Hospital. I can identify the miscreants as they were from our lane,” she added.

Ahmed said the women have been left traumatised by the incident. The woman is one of the many who have been brought to the Al-Hind Hospital over the past few days after being attacked by armed mobs in violence-hit northeast Delhi. Each has a horrific tale to tell.

Salman Khan (20), a resident of Karawal Nagar, said he was near his house on Tuesday night when a mob poured a chemical on his back that caused his skin to burn. “Some unidentified people caught me near my house and poured an acid-like liquid on my back. I have no idea what the substance was. It was very hot and my skin started burning as soon as they poured it on me,” he said. He said he was brought to the hospital by police around 11 pm.

Akil Saifi (30), who works with a private company, said he was thrashed by some people in Gokulpuri, which was among the areas worst-hit by the violence. “When I was returning home from office on Tuesday around 8.30 pm, some unidentified people stopped my motorcycle and started beating me as they saw skull cap on the head of my friend who was riding pillion. His name is Bilal and he is handicapped,” he said. “The fingers of my left hand were fractured and Bilal sustained minor injuries,” he added.

At least 34 people were killed and over 200 injured in the communal clashes that broke out in northeast Delhi after violence between supporters of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and those opposing it spiralled out of control on Sunday. Mehraj, a doctor at the Al-Hind Hospital, said injured people who were in serious condition were referred to government hospitals. “We referred four to five people to government hospitals as their condition was very bad. Two people died in our hospital and we are treating others,” he said.