India, Aug. 21 -- For victims and survivors of Delhi's 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the death of former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar brought little comfort.

After four decades of waiting for justice, many said his death in jail felt like an abrupt end to a battle they had hoped would culminate in the harshest punishment.

Ganga Kaur, 49, carries memories of the violence from a childhood she has never been able to leave behind. She lost her father, Kirpal Singh, two uncles and three cousins. She was seven when her father was called outside their home and burnt alive in front of her. "Even if you are a child, you can't forget this," she said.

The family, she said, could not even perform his last rites. "All the bodies were just thrown in the Yam...