'Look what Delhi has done to him': Dreams of education turn into nightmare for student’s family

They sent their children to Delhi with dreams of a better education and a brighter future that their small towns could not offer. But after a boys' hostel collapsed in Satya Niketan, families of the victims are returning home with a bitter message for those still pursuing the same dream: "Don’t send your kids to Delhi."

The collapse of the decades-old building housing a boys’ paying guest accommodation on Sunday killed seven people and left several others injured. For the families who had struggled to educate their children in the national capital, the tragedy has raised painful questions about safety, negligence, and whether Delhi was worth the risk.

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‘Completely disappointed’

For Bhupendra Jaj, who lost his son Ankit in the collapse, Delhi has been a profound disappointment. The family, which is from Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, had endured considerable hardship to provide Ankit with a good education.

“We have become completely disappointed. I just want to say to everyone, don't send your kids to Delhi,” Bhupendra told PTI.

The family struggled to locate Ankit after the building collapsed. A friend had called them around 3 pm to ask about him and warned them not to let him return to the area if he was still in Dewas.

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“We told him that he had already left for Delhi and had reached there in the morning. We had a lot of trouble just finding his body. Nobody was ready to tell us anything. They showed only two photographs to us when there were more bodies,” Bhupendra said.

Doctors later informed the family that one of Ankit’s eyes had been damaged while the other could still be donated. The family decided to donate the surviving eye.

“We decided at that time itself that we would donate his eye,” Bhupendra said.

Ankit’s grandfather, Makhanlal Jaj, accused the authorities of failing to help the family during the search.

“This (collapse) is complete negligence of the authorities. All such dilapidated buildings should be vacated immediately. After reaching there, we had a hard time searching for him as the authorities did not help us at all,” he said.

“All our hopes were pinned on him... Now what do we have left?” he added.

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‘Look what Delhi has done to him’

For 19-year-old Neeraj Bawa’s family, Delhi too was a choice made in pursuit of education. A second-year Bachelor of Arts student at Motilal Nehru College, Neeraj is from Jammu and remains admitted to an intensive care unit in critical condition after suffering severe injuries to his lower body.

His cousin Ashok Kumar said the family learnt about the collapse through television news. Neeraj’s father, a retired Army officer, initially did not realise that his son could be involved.

“His father, who has retired from the Army, was watching the news when reports of the building collapse came. At first, he did not pay heed, but slowly it struck him that Neeraj also lived in a PG in that area. After some time, we saw his photograph somewhere. We took a taxi and came here immediately,” Kumar said.

The family had repeatedly urged Neeraj to study in Jammu, but he wanted to attend a reputed college in Delhi.

“Look what Delhi has done to him,” Kumar said.

Neeraj, who lost his mother around a decade ago, is the youngest of four siblings. His father and three sisters have remained protective of him.

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His friend and fellow survivor, 19-year-old Nitish Chib, is recovering and is expected to be discharged soon. Nitish’s mother, Seema Chib, said her daughter had been considering Delhi for higher studies but has now changed her mind.

“My daughter was thinking of coming to Delhi, but now she has dropped the plan,” she said.

The more than 27-hour rescue operation ended on Monday evening. Police have arrested the building owner, 81-year-old Hariram, his 75-year-old wife Urmila and their 52-year-old son Mahesh. They have been booked on charges including culpable homicide, negligence in maintaining a structure and endangering the safety of others.