Presumed dead after being hit by a bullet on the back near his spine and brought to the hospital over two hours later, 14-year-old Faizan is now stable and is recovering at ward number 11 of GTB Hospital here on Thursday.
“The boy had allegedly come out of his house to get breakfast on Tuesday morning when he got caught in the mob and fell on the ground. He later got up and was hit on the back. We found him on the roadside,” said a journalist, who along with locals in the area managed to get the boy admitted in the hospital.
“The boy told us that his mother passed away when he was young and his father abandoned him. He lives with an aunt who is aged. They pull along with the money that he makes working as a daily wager and doing odd-jobs,” the scribe said.
Doctors at the GTB Hospital said that his condition is stable and is currently under observation.
12-year-old injured
In another incident, 12-year-old Faisal was walking home from his brother-in-law’s house in Chand Bagh around 5 p.m. on Wednesday when stones flew over him from multiple sides. Having been hit on the head, Faisal lost consciousness and was taken indoors. While he was given treatment at a local medical centre, where his head was bandaged, he said that in the middle of the night he started vomiting, after which he was referred to LNJP Hospital, where he was admitted in the neurology emergency ward.
Faisal reported loss of vision. “I can’t see anyone’s face clearly,” he said, sitting next to his parents on a hospital bed. His parents said that doctors had recommended that he undergo a CT scan to diagnose the issue.
While his parents believed that violence had been under control in the area with increased police deployment, asked if he was afraid, Faisal said: “What should I be scared of?”
Apart from Faisal, at least two other patients injured in the riots were admitted to the neurology department. At the burns ward, one victim with acid injuries was undergoing treatment, a doctor said.
Casualty
Meanwhile, 11 more fatalities have been reported at three hospitals in the city taking the total death toll in the communal violence to 38 on Thursday, according to senior officials. Till Wednesday night, the casualty was 27.
GTB Hospital has so far reported 34 deaths, three deaths at LNJP Hospital and one at Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital. More than 200 people have been injured in the violence, said a senior official of the Delhi Health Department.
Sunil Kumar, director of GTB Hospital, said that on Thursday the hospital registered 30 deaths while Kishore Singh, medical superintendent of LNJP Hospital said that three persons have died and 10 are still in serious condition at the hospital.
People were admitted with gun-shot injuries, stab wounds, acid burns, injury by blunt object, including stones, said a senior GTB Hospital official.
Meanwhile, nearly three dozen CRPF personnel donated blood at the GTB Hospital to supplement its bank to help the injured.
(With inputs from
Sidharth Ravi)
