‘Why did I let him come to Delhi?’: Mother’s heartbreak after DU student Arpit dies in Satya Niketan building collapse | Delhi News
NEW DELHI: For 19-year-old Delhi University student Arpit, plans for a college day and a concert with a close friend have been cut short after he became one of seven people killed in a building collapse in southwest Delhi.The building, which housed a boys’ paying guest accommodation in Satya Niketan near Delhi University’s South Campus, collapsed around 1.30pm on Sunday while repair work was underway.12 people were rescued from the debris, seven of whom died, news agency PTI reported.Arpit, a second-year student at DU’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.He last spoke to his mother around 12.30pm. She was later admitted to AIIMS after losing consciousness.Every call to him after that went unanswered.For Arpit’s mother, the loss remains difficult to comprehend.She collapsed after seeing her 19-year-old son’s body and was admitted to AIIMS. Even after regaining consciousness, she remained in shock and struggled to accept that her son was gone, PTI reported.Crying inconsolably, she repeatedly said she would not eat until Arpit returned home and fed her with his own hands, clinging to an ordinary family ritual amid the tragedy.Days before the incident, she had tried to stop him from returning to Delhi after Rakshabandhan, fearing that something might happen to him.“At the railway station, his sister sneezed, which I considered an ominous sign, and I told him not to travel. But he insisted that his ticket was confirmed and that his classes were also about to start,” she told PTI.Arpit left despite her pleas.His mother is now struggling with guilt over the decision. “Why did I let him come to Delhi? I had a feeling that something bad would happen,” she said, breaking down.Arpit’s friend Sanskar, 20, who had been studying with him in the same class for around one-and-a-half years, said the news was difficult to believe.Arpit had told him after boarding the train on Saturday evening that he was returning to Delhi.Speaking to PTI, Sanskar said, “We were very close. He was one of the best people I had ever met. Both he and I arrived in Delhi on the same day. He was celebrating Rakshabandhan with his family. He had even told me that we would go to a concert in Delhi University.”The two friends were also supposed to attend college on Monday.“We were supposed to go to college today, but fate had different plans,” he said, as several of Arpit’s friends gathered outside the hospital, struggling to hold back their tears.Arpit’s friends spent hours searching for him after learning about the collapse.Mayank, a student of Kirori Mal College, said he learnt about the incident from a friend and immediately rushed to the spot.“We rushed to find him but he was missing. We called his mother and asked her not to send him back from Madhya Pradesh as his PG building had collapsed. But she told us that he had already left on Saturday evening,” he said.The group then went to AIIMS after learning that those rescued from the debris were being brought there.“We immediately came to AIIMS because we were told that people were being brought here. We have not left since then. His family identified him around 9am,” Mayank said.For those who knew Arpit in his hometown, his future appeared promising.Raj Vardhan, who knew Arpit from their hometown and had been his junior in school, said Arpit was pursuing a B.Com programme and preparing for the Chartered Accountancy examinations.The collapse has left Arpit’s friends mourning a fellow student and the plans they had made together, a college day that never came, a concert they will no longer attend together and a young man who had just returned to Delhi to resume his studies.The owner of the building, identified as Hariram Gupta, was apprehended from Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi area on Monday, Delhi Police said.Deputy commissioner of police (Southwest) Amit Goel said Gupta was apprehended from Bhiwadi and further examination in connection with the case was underway.Police have registered a case against the building owner and others, while a magisterial inquiry has also been ordered.(With agency inputs)
