Year after losing father, 20-yr-old Payal dies in Delhi shop fire; family struggles for last rites

New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) Barely a year after Payal lost her father, tragedy again struck her family, which now struggles to shore up money for the sole breadwinner's last rites.

The 20-year-old was one of the four who suffocated in the Raja Garden fire. She is survived by a mostly bedridden mother, three siblings who were dependent on her, and an elder sister who is married.

Four people died in a fire that broke out on the first-floor godown of Mahajan Electronics in the west Delhi locality on Monday afternoon.

Besides Payal, three more, Aayushi, 22, Payal, 20, Amandeep Kaur, 22, and Ravi, 28, died of suffocation. A fifth, Sandeep Sharma, 25, is undergoing treatment at the hospital.

When the fire broke out, all five employees of the store were having lunch in a room on the second floor of the building.

Payal had been working at the shop for about two months.

Her maternal uncle, Vijay Kumar, told PTI the family was yet to receive her body.

"We were told that there was an accident in which Payal was involved. We had no idea about the scale of it. Later, we came to know that a fire broke out due to a short-circuit, and the smoke was so thick that Payal suffocated to death. They haven't yet shown us the body," he said.

"Her family is poor, and there is no one to support them since her father passed away less than a year ago. They have no money even to perform the last rites of Payal," Kumar said.

He also claimed that the owner had not even come to meet the victim's family once.

"The incident has already happened. Now, the least they can do is to give compensation. This is due to their negligence. We are poor people; nobody is there for us. We demand that the accused be arrested and compensation be provided to the family," he added.

An inconsolable Prerna, Payal's mother, said she has not seen her daughter's body yet.

"They made us go from one place to the other, but they have not yet shown us her body. We got to know about the incident around 6.30 pm. Our whole life has come crashing down," she said.

Meanwhile, Amandeep Kaur wanted to save money to fund her master's degree.

Her uncle Baljeet, 45, described the store accountant as a "brilliant student." "This was the first job she did after completing her graduation in BCom. She had bigger dreams and wanted to pursue a master's degree," he said.

Amandeep Kaur is survived by an elder sister, 25, who is working, a brother, 17, who is studying in class 11, and her 48-year-old mother.

Her 50-year-old father has a currency exchange shop in Karol Bagh.

Baljeet blamed the fire on the negligence of the store owners.

"You are running such a big shop, and you don't have proper safety measures in place. There were no fire exits. My child is gone now. This could have been avoided entirely. I don't want compensation. My child won't come back now, but I don't want anyone else to go through this," he said, his eyes welling up.

An uncle of Aayushi claimed that she had raised concerns about the poorly managed building, which lacked basic safety norms and wanted to quit the job by Diwali.

"Aayushi had been working in the shop for the past one and a half years and had informed the owner about the likelihood of something like this happening, but they did not pay heed to her," he said.

Aayushi's father works as a welder, and she is survived by a younger brother and sister.

As the fire spread to a windowless second floor, it became a chamber of gas. With no fire exit, the five workers were trapped.

Police said the building has a basement with the showroom on the ground floor. The first floor where the fire started was used as a godown. The building had two more floors.

According to police, a distress call regarding the fire was received at the Moti Nagar Police Station on Monday, around 3 pm.

"People present there informed us that five people were trapped inside. After sustained efforts, all of them were taken out and rushed to hospitals. Four of them lost their lives, while one is undergoing treatment," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Vichitra Veer had earlier said.

He said the bodies have been preserved for post-mortem, and their victims' families have been informed.

"We are investigating all aspects, including whether there was any lapse in fire safety norms or negligence in handling electrical equipment," the DCP said.

A case has been registered under sections 106 (Causing death by negligence) and 287 (Negligent conduct related to fire or combustible materials) of the BNS has been registered against the owner of the shop. PTI SSJ VN VN