With postmortem reports of some babies still pending, parents are yet to receive the bodies of their deceased children. "Allah ko pyaari ho gayi meri beti," said Ansaar, whose 11-day-old daughter was among the seven newborns killed in a blaze at a childcare hospital in Delhi.
The fire broke out at the Baby Care New Born Hospital in Vivek Vihar around 11:30 pm on Saturday and spread to two adjacent buildings. The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) deployed 16 fire tenders to extinguish the flames across three buildings.
Ansaar is waiting for the postmortem to be completed so that he can receive his baby's body. The other six families are also waiting.
"I saw my baby yesterday. She had a fever and was admitted to the hospital two days ago. This morning I was told about the fire," said the mother of 17-day-old Ruhi, who was killed in the blaze. She recalled that Ruhi had been wearing a "Najar ki mala" to ward off evil spirits when admitted to the hospital. "They (hospital staff) removed that and the necklace. Ruhi was in a diaper," she said.
Ansaar's daughter was born at another hospital on May 15. "She developed some health issues and was admitted to the hospital (Baby Care New Born Hospital) 10 days ago," he said. "Allah ko pyaari ho gayi meri beti," he added, explaining that he learned about the incident from friends. "When I reached, I came to know that my daughter had died."
For Masialam, a laborer, tragedy struck again after five years. "I lost my son five years ago. On Saturday, my newborn son died. What kind of facilities do they have?" he asked. Many parents, including Masialam, had sold their jewelry or borrowed money to pay for their children's treatment at the hospital. His newborn son had been admitted to Baby Care New Born Hospital after developing an infection.
Parvinder Kumar, a relative of another victim, said, "We have not informed her mother yet." The six-day-old baby was the first child of his relative Pawan Kumar. "The girl was born around six days ago at a hospital in Ghaziabad and was admitted to the care center for breathing issues. She was showing some improvement. We got a call around 9 am and were informed about the incident," Parvinder Kumar said. He blamed the hospital and called for strict action against its owner. The Kumars are farmers from Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district.
Hritik Chaudhary, whose newborn son also died in the fire, said that officials visiting the hospital remained tight-lipped about the incident. They did not answer questions about the hospital's legality or whether it had a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department. Chaudhary’s cousin, Robin, mentioned that nobody informed them about the incident, and they only learned about it from the news. The lack of information and confusion left many families in despair when they reached the hospital.
After the incident, District Magistrate (DM) Shahdara, Ritisha Gupta, also visited the GTB Hospital. Many families stood outside, raising slogans of "Humein Insaaf Chahiye” (we want justice).
Police have arrested Dr. Naveen Kichi, the owner of Baby Care New Born Hospital, who had been on the run since the fire outbreak. Kichi has been booked under sections 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. The neonatal hospital was operating despite the expiry of its license and lacked qualified doctors and clearance from the fire department, police said on Sunday.
