“His birthday is in October, he would’ve turned 20,” said Pushpa, Arpit Jahaj’s mother, recalling his last birthday, when the family surprised him with a silver bracelet. “His bracelet and neck chain were gone. I was able to identify my son only with the birthmark near his shoulder,” she said.

Arpit, a second-year student at Delhi University’s Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College, had returned to Delhi from his home in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday morning after spending Rakshabandhan with his family. By Monday afternoon, after the debris was cleared at the Satya Niketan collapse site, he was among the seven confirmed dead. Five others who were injured are receiving treatment.

He had last spoken to his mother around 12:30 pm on Sunday. The family rushed to Delhi from their home in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, after being informed of the incident by Arpit’s uncle who lives in Ghaziabad.

At the AIIMS Trauma Centre, the waiting room was a daunting place. “We had to wait for a long time to see our son. The police made us wait,” said Pushpa.

Arpit had scored 95 per cent in his Class 12 board examinations and cleared the CUET examination with flying colours, which led to his admission to DU. His mother said he was also preparing for another course related to accountancy.

“Maybe my son would have been saved if the rescue had happened on time,” said his father Bhupendra, adding the family had donated his son’s corneas and taken his body back home for the last rites. Arpit is survived by his parents and an elder sister. 

His room was on the third floor of the five-storey PG Hostel Daze, which collapsed on Sunday afternoon. On Monday, the owner of the building, identified as Hariram Gupta, was apprehended from Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi area, Delhi Police said. Apart from a police case, a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered. The Rekha Gupta government has suspended several officials over the incident.

The Delhi Police identified the deceased as Abhishek Kumar (20) from Uttar Pradesh, Yuvraj Soni (20) from Chhattisgarh, Pawan (17) from Uttar Pradesh, Arpit Jahaj (19) from Madhya Pradesh and Akshat Singh Yadav (18) from Madhya Pradesh. All five were students. A labourer, Surinder Singh (75), also died in the incident. The seventh person, a male, remains unidentified.

Those injured were identified as Asgar Ali (30), Neeraj Bawa (19), Aditya Kumar (19), Nitish Chib (19) and Mohd Ayan (18).

‘I wish he was rescued quickly’

Among the deceased was another PGDAV College student, Akshat Singh Yadav, from Katni in Madhya Pradesh. 

When Newslaundry was on the ground on Sunday, Yogank Goyal, a student at PGDAV College, said, “We got to know that a second-year BCom student from our college was trapped in this incident. When we inquired about him with the officials, they told us to check at AIIMS, as six people had been rescued. When we got the list from AIIMS, his name was not there.”

By Monday afternoon, Akshat’s parents had received his body from the AIIMS Trauma Centre and were on their way back home. 

A relative said, “Akshat lived on the second floor of the PG. We are taking the body to Katni for last rites. I wish he was rescued quickly and his life was saved.”

Anuj Sharma, Akshat’s classmate, recalled their classroom interactions. “Akshat and I were classmates and his death has shocked me. He gave an English presentation two or three days back and was very good at it. We would speak about assignments and college events and societies and it’s unfair what’s happened to him. He was inclined academically,” he said.

He added that the incident had scared his friends who live in PGs in Delhi. “In my first year, I was living in a PG too; however, I left because of the poor facilities. My house is ahead of Gurgaon but I’d rather travel than live in PG,” he said.

‘Switched on TV, recognised him’

Neeraj Bawa remains severely injured and admitted to AIIMS Delhi. A BA student at Motilal Nehru College, he had moved to Delhi from Jammu for higher education. His father, Darshan, spoke to Newslaundry with welled-up eyes and recalled how he found out about the accident.

“I switched on the TV around 3 pm and that’s when I got to know that the Hostel Daze PG where my son stays has collapsed. We recognised him in the visuals when Neeraj’s sister saw the rakhi he was wearing. He was wearing a vest,” he said. 

Neeraj has major internal injuries and has undergone one operation. His father said his spirits were high. “I told my son to not fear anymore and he replied saying – ‘Papa, I wasn’t scared inside when this happened,’” said Darshan, adding that following the collapse, Neeraj had sent his location to a friend. “See, here is his phone.”

Neeraj’s family comprises his father and an elder sister. He had gone back home for Rakshabandhan and returned to Delhi on August 31. He lived on the second floor of the collapsed building.

Newslaundry also spoke to the family of a second year B Com student who died in the incident. The family told us they were taking their son’s body back to their native place for the last rites. 

For the families, an arrest and an inquiry cannot undo what happened. They want answers about why their children were not safe in the first place – and assurances that no other family has to identify their child by a birthmark, a rakhi or a photograph after a preventable tragedy.

Arpit’s mother is left questioning the decision that brought her son back to Delhi. “My son was a happy child. Why did I let him come to Delhi? It is a bad city.”

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