The mother of nine-year-old Dalit, who was found dead in a crematorium in southwest Delhi four days ago, points to her daughter's toy - a board game and a small drum. Inside the family's one-room house, there was also a small pair of white shoes with gold heels. She said: “My daughter is very smart, she often makes people laugh.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered a magistrate's office investigation into the death and cremation and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh after meeting his family.
By their room, in the middle of a block, was a sanctuary, and across the street was a crematorium. A neighbour said the girl's mother used to sit near the shrine and look for alms or pick up trash to sell. The child's father is unemployed, he said.
According to the mother, she was at the sanctuary on Sunday night while her husband went to get vegetables. “My daughter wants to play and will get water from the crematorium. Then Pandit Ji and a few others came to me and told me she was dead. I rushed to the crematorium. He said she had been electrocuted. He asked me not to cry or scream. He told me that the police would take the child away, perform an autopsy and sell his organs, ”she says.
“My baby's clothes are wet and his lips are green… I am unconscious. Then they asked me if I wanted to eat, and I said no, ”she said. At that time, she said, they cremated the body. “They asked me to sign the papers. But I refused. Pandit Ji asked me to go home quietly and sleep. He asked me to come back in the morning to get the ashes to soak in the Yamuna. But then the locals and the police arrived. When the fire was put out, the body was half burned,” she said.