A large force of police personnel stood alongside them. Soon, emotions boiled over when the families learned that the shop owner — arrested in connection with the blaze — had already secured bail and walked free.

“All we want is to have a word with the (shop’s) owner… are we savages that they think we’ll beat him up? Let us have a word with him at least once. Don’t we deserve to confront the man who killed our children?” asked Jagjeet Singh, father of one of the victims, Amandeep Kaur (22).

“He’s murdered four children… and the police let him go. We told the police that we won’t claim the bodies until we get justice…,” said Sunil Singla, her uncle.

Amandeep had been working at the cash counter of the store since last October and lived nearby with her family in Raghubir Nagar.

The fire broke out Monday afternoon at Mahajan Electronics, a shop on the second floor of a four-storey building in West Delhi’s Raja Nagar. Apart from Amandeep (22), three other staffers — Payal (20), Aayushi (22), and Ravi (28) — died after inhaling smoke. A fifth employee, Sandeep (25), remains hospitalised. They were on a lunch break when the blaze broke out.

As some family members attempted to negotiate and cajole the policemen, others sat haphazardly under sheds to avoid the brief drizzle.

Sitting with her arms crossed was Payal’s elder sister, Vandana. “We’ve been waiting here since 7.30 am. It’s almost 2.30 pm now, and they still haven’t let us see her.”

Next to her, Payal’s mother rocked gently from side to side, her eyes blank. “Kam se kam uski body toh dikhaye. Bina dekhe post-mortem ke liye bhej diya (At least let us see her body. They sent her for a post-mortem without letting us see her),” said her mother softly as she ran a tired hand over her face.

Payal had been working at the electronics store for the past month and a half, her sister said. After losing her father to diabetes last year and watching her mother suffer from various ailments, the young woman had decided to become the family’s breadwinner.

She worked in the e-commerce section of the store, taking care of online orders and the inventory.

“I wanted to pursue a polytechnic course, but she loved to go to work. She liked the independence it gave her,” said Vandana.

Meanwhile, Aayushi’s family quietly accepted their daughter’s fate. “She worked there for two and a half years,” said Rajesh Gupta, her uncle, as he hurriedly bought a bottle of water for their long journey back home.
“Around 5 pm yesterday, four people from her office came and informed us that there was a blast in the office and she was admitted to the ICU… it took us three hours to reach DDU Hospital from Nangloi because of a traffic snarl. By the time we got there, we were told to go to the mortuary instead. She had died,” Gupta said.

He, too, expressed his frustration at the shop owner being granted bail. “There was no place for them to escape. The shop was made in such a way that there was only one entry. How is he (the owner) not being held accountable?” he asked.

Payal’s uncle, Bijay, interjected: “We’re not asking for compensation out of greed. We’re poor people. Our family doesn’t even have money to arrange for her funeral rites.”

According to the police, a PCR call regarding the incident was received around 3 pm. The Delhi Fire Services deployed five fire tenders.

“Bystanders said five individuals were trapped inside. After sustained efforts, all of them were taken out and sent to hospitals. Four persons lost their lives in this unfortunate incident, while one person is undergoing treatment,” DCP (West) Vichitra Veer had said on Monday..

“We are investigating all aspects, including whether there was any lapse in fire safety norms or negligence in handling electrical equipment,” the DCP had said.

A case was registered under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 287 (negligent conduct related to fire or combustible materials) of the BNS against the shop owner.

(Pranay Singh Dhaka is an intern with The Indian Express)