“We want justice,” said a teary-eyed Sunita, 37, as she sat cross-legged on the road in a street near the Emergency Block at the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital on Monday. Her brother, Anil Kumar, a 27-year-old Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) contractual worker, was stabbed to death in East Delhi’s Kalyanpuri in the early hours of Sunday morning. Along with her father Ram Asare, Sunita, her family members, and hundreds of sanitation workers, and Kalyanpuri MLA Kuldeep Kumar gathered at the protest site on Monday, demanding Rs 1 crore in compensation for the family, a government job for a relative and strict punishment for the accused as their protest entered the second day. Senior district police officers and paramilitary personnel were deployed at the hospital in view of the demonstration. Recalling the last time she met Anil, Sunita said, “I saw him two days ago. He came to my house… and we had a meal together…he mentioned that his salary was about to get credited. He was happy. But he is gone now. Who will take care of the family? That is why we are demanding a government job for his elder brother.” The MCD Sanitation Workers Union has also gone on a strike — they said it won’t be called off until all demands are met. Accused arrested According to the police, Anil, who worked as a helper, was standing near a garbage van on Sunday when the attacker approached and assaulted him with a knife. The incident was captured on a CCTV camera. Hours after the murder, Anil’s family began a sit-in protest outside the mortuary at Lok Nayak (LBS) Hospital, refusing to accept his body after the postmortem as they demanded the arrest of the accused. Police arrested the accused, identified as Nihal alias “Kulla”, 52, from the Kalyanpuri area on Monday afternoon. During questioning, Nihal allegedly told investigators that he had intended to target Anil and the garbage van driver, Gulshan, as he suspected an illicit relationship between Gulshan and his wife. "Nihal revealed that he tracked the vehicle early on Sunday. In a fit of rage, he attacked Anil, who often accompanied Gulshan. Officers are trying to recover the knife allegedly used in the crime,” a police officer said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Rajeev Kumar said an FIR was registered after the incident and multiple teams were deployed to trace the suspect. “The accused repeatedly evaded arrest but was taken into custody on Monday,” he said, adding that police were examining CCTV footage and questioning witnesses to reconstruct the sequence of events. Garbage collection services remain shut The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Safai Karamchari Union has said it will keep the small garbage collection vehicles, called auto-tippers, off the roads until their demands are met. “One of our brothers, a worker, was murdered. This is not just a one-off case. Our demand is that our workers be given protection. Some schemes should be developed so that no such fatal attacks can happen against them in the future. No one should be able to exploit them. Secondly, our demand is that a government job be given to a member of his family and Rs 1 crore compensation be provided,” Vijay Untwal, chairperson of the union, said. He added, “If this administration doesn't listen to us, we will go on a strike and stop work in all of Delhi.” AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar, who has been participating in the protests, claimed that no one from the government has been in touch with the family. “The family and sanitation workers have been sitting here since 7 am on Sunday. No representative from the government has come to meet them. This is clear discrimination. If a sanitation worker is not safe while working in the streets and neighborhoods today, how will he clean?, " he said. Surendra Kumar Gautam, Anil’s cousin, warned that their protest would also continue if the family’s demands were not accepted and said another demonstration was planned for Tuesday. Poor working conditions Several protesting sanitation workers alleged poor working conditions. “We pick up the world's garbage while people are still sleeping. We leave our homes at 4 am, sweep, and pick up this trash. Now, we are afraid if we’ll get to see our family after our shift”, said Deepak, 40, a sanitation worker. Vikas, a garbage van driver, said, “The government ordered recently that everyone's salary should be increased. Our salary has not increased. The agency for which we are working says that if we speak up, they will fire us from the job." The workers claim that they don't get any offs. As they receive daily wages, they don’t receive the money for days that they don’t show up.
