Street vendors, daily wagers worst-hit in Delhi violence

45-year-old Shyam Sahni's tea stall and two ice-cream carts were set ablaze by rioters in Chand Bagh area during the violence that took place in Northeast part of the national capital recently.

Sahni and his family used to live in rented accommodation on the top floor of their tea shop before he had to flee for life along with his wife and four sons, leaving everything behind.

"My tea stall and ice-cream carts were set on fire. We had to run for lives. I don't know how to earn my livelihood now. We were so scared that it did not even strike to us for once to carry at least some of our belongings though we locked the door," Sahni told ANI.

Sahni's house was ransacked before being set ablaze by the rioters.

Expressing anguish over the incidents that took place, Sahni's wife Dhanmanti said: "We don't know what to do now. We are staying and eating at our neighbour's place for the last four days. We have no idea as to how long we have to continue living like this. We are at a total loss."

Many others met a similar fate during the violence that rattled the national capital for over three days.

Another victim of the violence said: "I am a fruit seller. I owned a fruit cart that was burnt to ashes. We used to stay in a one-room accommodation with all our belongings, which too were set on fire. It is poor, which is the worst hit. We face the wrath directly, and that too for doing nothing."

Yusuf, a neighbour of Sahni, owned a small chemist shop, which was also vandalised by the rioters.

Yusuf said: "At first I did not understand what was happening. I was in my shop. When I realised that the situation is completely out of control, I ran with my family. Today I came back and saw how my shop has been ransacked and burnt."

At least 42 people including a Delhi Police Head Constable and an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer were killed while around 200 people sustained serious injuries in the violence in northeast Delhi.

Two Special Investigation Teams (SIT) have been constituted under the Delhi Police's Crime Branch to investigate the violence.