The Hindu : New Delhi News : Joint cremation for three-year-old boy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 03, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Joint cremation for three-year-old boy

Two families disputed each other's claim

New Delhi: First the two families fought for the body disputing each other's claim. In the end, they cremated the body together.

Two grief-stricken families tonight performed joint cremation of the body of a three-year-old boy who was killed in the Sarojini Nagar market blast, after three days of bitter dispute over who should get possession of the body.

For Anupam Gupta, it was the cremation of his son Utkarsh. For Balbir Singh, it was the cremation of Nikhil, his nephew. The two families kept their difference aside to perform the cremation at the electric crematorium at the Sarai Kale Khan near Lajpat Nagar.

"We had no other option. We did not want to wait any more," said Sanjay Garg, a relative of Gupta who lost his wife Rachana and son Nikhil in the blast. Gupta had performed the cremation of Rachana's body on Sunday.

The joint cremation was agreed to after the Gupta family talked to Balbir Singh, who said he had no objection. Nikhil's father Dilbagh Singh was killed in the blast along with his son and daughter Priyanka.

Forensic experts took blood samples of Gupta and Balbir Singh earlier in the day for DNA tests to identify the body. The Central Forensic Science Laboratory will however take one week to come out with the result of the DNA tests. -- UNI

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