‘Don’t send your kids to Delhi’: Father after son’s death
Srinagar: A distraught father has urged parents not to send their children to Delhi for studies after his 21-year-old son was killed in the collapse of a multi-storey building being used as a paying guest accommodation in the Satya Niketan area of the Indian capital, raising serious concerns over student safety and administrative response.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Bhupendra Jaj, a resident of Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, made the emotional appeal while bidding farewell to his son Arpit Jaj, who was among seven people killed when the building collapsed. With folded hands, the grieving father urged other parents to reconsider sending their children to Delhi, saying he had educated his son despite facing financial difficulties and was devastated by his death.
Arpit, a second-year BCom student at a Delhi college, had left his hometown on September 5 after celebrating Rakshabandhan and Janmashtami with his family. He reached Delhi on September 6 and was staying at the ill-fated building when it collapsed hours later.
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The tragedy has also exposed difficulties faced by the bereaved family in locating and identifying the student’s body. Bhupendra Jaj said the family searched hospitals and the site of the collapsed building but received little assistance from the Delhi administration. He said they were eventually able to identify Arpit’s body with the help of a lawyer.
The incident has triggered renewed concerns over the safety of paying guest accommodations and other residential buildings housing students in Delhi, as families continue to demand accountability and better administrative mechanisms during such emergencies.
