Who are eunuchs’ next of kin? Hospital works on guru-chela list

“An analysis of the age profile of the victims showed that only the senior eunuchs,who could not run out of the fire site,died and suffered grievous injuries. So,we drew a list of not only the dead but also the 32 injured brought to our centre. We identified 3-4 chelas (followers) of every senior Hijra,” a senior official of the hospital said.

According to the official,the hospital took this step in the absence of specific instructions from police or government officials on the matter.

“The crowd outside became uncontrollable when the compensation announcement was made. We had to have some plan ready,” the official said. “Any patient with over 30 per cent burns can succumb to injuries,especially because some have additional complications like diabetes and heart problems. One of the victims,Sonia,has over 85 per cent burns and is very critical. Another has severe respiratory problems. We decided to draw up a list of their chelas as well as a precautionary measure.”

By evening,the official’s fears came true. One of the seriously injured,Shakila,died of complications.

Representatives of the eunuchs suggested various ways of distributing the compensation amount. Bipasha,chela of Bela,one of the gurus who died in the blaze,said: “There is one senior Hijra who is a sort of successor decided by the community. Ideally,the amount should be given to her. If the guru had a favourite,that person could be nominated by all other chelas and given the amount.”