New Delhi: Eyes fixed on the door, a shattered family sits huddled together in the corner house of street number 8 in northeast Delhi’s Old Mustafabad area. They are eagerly waiting for the only survivor of what appears to be a freak domestic accident involving a 36-year-old male family member and his two children.
Late Tuesday night, the two kids, Safiya (around 7 years old) and Junera (around 5 years old) were playing on the third-floor balcony when Junera allegedly slipped over the edge. Safiya tried to hold onto her sister as Asadullah ran to save his young daughters. But he lost his footing and all three fell off.
They were taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, where Asadullah and Safiya were declared brought dead while Junera was admitted for leg injuries. She is still at the hospital, where her mother, Nisha, is taking care of her.
Meanwhile, shocked relatives and neighbours are thronging the family’s seemingly newly-built house to express grief.
“It was all so sudden. We are all in shock. Never have we witnessed such a thing before. I am still unable to process it,” says Mehnaz, a relative of the family, who lives in the same house. “Thanks to Allah, Junera only suffered small injuries. To lose one’s husband and child, what must their mother be feeling I can’t imagine,” she adds.
From young children to the elderly, everyone in the family is too stunned to speak, holding their heads in silent prayer. Abdul, a relative who lives in the same house, has taken charge as the spokesperson of the family as others cover their sobbing faces.
“Everything happened so quickly. The accidents, the deaths,” Abdul says.
The mourning will continue for 40 days — as dictated by Islamic funeral customs — at the house of the late Asadullah, an electrician who used to run a store at the ground floor.
Also read: Deaths in Delhi caused by road accidents increased in 2021 as compared to 2020: Rakesh Asthana
What happened that fateful night?
Abdul, who witnessed the episode, says Asadullah’s daughters fell off because the railing of the balcony was low in height.
“It happened around 11 pm. Junera had fallen and was hanging from the balcony when Asadullah heard bystanders screaming. He rushed after his older daughter Safiya, who was also trying to save her sister, rebuffing pleas to not get too close to the edge of the balcony. All three suffered the same fate…” says Abdul.
“That day the winds were also quite strong. Can’t say what exactly happened. No one could have predicted it,” he adds.
The pink-hued 100 square-metre house, plastered with ceramic design, stands at the corner of the street. The balconies in the three-storey building are modest in size, with low railings. And some relatives believe this could have been the reason behind the accident.
Maruff, who runs an electronic shop in the street, recounts the aftermath of the fall. According to him, many people had gathered around the trio after they fell, which attracted the attention of beat police personnel that were in the area to attend to a brawl.
“The police themselves asked us to dial 100 to call for emergency service. The SHO of Dayalpur had reached the spot and almost immediately begun the investigation,” he says.
No foul play suspected, says police
According to the police, no foul play is suspected but an investigation under Section 174 of CrPC (pertains to cases of suicide or deaths under ‘reasonable suspicion’) has been initiated.
“There is no CCTV footage of the incident. Till now, the case is being seen as a pure accident, but we are conducting Section 174 proceedings as per procedure,” says a senior Delhi Police official who didn’t wish to be named.
Mehmud, a neighbour who runs a dairy shop about three houses away, narrates the incident like a movie.
“Around 11 pm, I heard sounds which were like gunshots and saw Asadullah and his daughters lying on the ground. There was a lot of commotion around the scene. I heard one man also tried to catch them to save them from falling but got injured himself,” he says.
Mehnaz and Abdul assert the accident was unfortunate, adding that there is no place for conspiracies.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)
Source: The Print
