The 1984 anti-Sikh riots: India's unhealed wound

After the mob set Darshan Kaur's husband ablaze, she gathered her three children, the youngest just 15 days old, and bolted. In the frenzy, the baby slipped from 19-year-old Darshan's hands. But there was no time to stop. For the next three days, she and the remaining two children ran from the police station to gurudwara searching for a safe place.

- Namita Bhandare

There was none to be found. For three days following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by her Sikh bodyguards, the capital city was the epicentre of a mass massacre, as mobs, allegedly incited by Congress leaders and spurred by Rajiv Gandhi's statement, "When a big tree falls, the ground will shake," targeted innocent Sikhs.

By government estimates, around 2,800 were killed in Delhi but senior advocate HS Phoolka reckons it was closer to 4,000.

In Trilokpuri, 12 of Darshan Kaur's male relatives were killed. She saw a man in dark glasses and a white kurta pyjama give instructions to the crowd. In court, she identified him as the now-deceased Congress leader HKL Bhagat. He was never convicted.