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'Our Lives Too Ended That Day': For Widows of Delhi Riots, the Scars Run Deep

By: VARSHA SRIRAM

"Tum bacche ke baare mein fikar mat karna, Nargis. Main hamesha tumhare saath rahuga, aur tera khayal rakhunga. Aaj mahaul sahi lag raha hai, toh main kaam pe jaake, shaam ko wapas aa jaunga. Phir hum baat karenge. I love you... (Don't worry about our unborn child, Nargis. I am always by your side and will take care of you. The situation looks better today, so I will go to work and be back in the evening. Let's talk then. I love you.)"

It was a chilly winter morning on 25 February 2020. Just 20 days ago, 32-year-old Mursaleen, a scrap dealer in New Delhi's Mustafabad, found out that his 27-year-old wife Nargis was pregnant with their fourth child.

The couple, though ecstatic, was concerned about Nargis' health and how they would be able to manage to raise four children on their income. Assuring Nargis that all will be well, Mursaleen left for work at 10 am that day – but he never returned.

Nineteen days later, Nargis found Mursaleen's decomposed body, with bullet wounds and swollen eyes, at the mortuary of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Shahdara.

Over 25 women were widowed in February 2020 when communal violence in Northeast Delhi left 53 people dead. Four years on, The Quint tells the stories of four widows – Nargis, Saiba, Zahira, and Neetu – who even as they try to rebuild their lives, live with endless trauma.