While handing over the body of their Son , doctors asked if they would like to donate Arpit’s eyes (corneas), and the family readily agreed. They thought – while Arpit’s own dream of becoming a “big man” remained unfulfilled, the light provided by his eyes could help fulfill someone else’s dreams. Nineteen-year-old Arpit was a second-year B.Com student at Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, part of Delhi University’s South Campus.
Arpit and six others died when the five-story building, which was already in a dilapidated state, collapsed. The building’s poor condition, exacerbated by additional floors constructed atop an old structure in blatant disregard of all rules and regulations, was no secret; yet, the greedy owner continued to profit by housing students there, merely giving the building a superficial coat of paint. Arpit used to pay Rs. 16,000 per month as rent for the accommodation that included meals.
The pain of losing their son will haunt this family for a lifetime, but even in this state of grief, their suffering was compounded by the government system that has become virtually devoid of empathy. The detailed account provided by Arpit’s parents is enough to expose the state of disaster management preparedness in the national capital. While the sluggish response of the administrative machinery regarding relief and rescue operations following the building collapse is well-known, the ordeal Arpit’s family endured is even more harrowing.
Many people were pulled from the debris of the collapsed building and seven of them died. Arpit’s parents were informed by his friend about the collapse of the PG hostel where Arpit lived, but there was no news about Arpit himself at that stage. While debris removal was underway, the family rushed to the hospital where the injured and the deceased had been brought. Police and doctors showed them bodies that appeared to be those of students or young men, but Arpit’s body was not among them. There was another body there but the family was told it belonged to an unidentified 35-year-old man. To be certain the family wanted to examine that body as well. Surprisingly , police personnel and doctors insisted that since laborers had been working in the building, the body likely belonged to one of them.
When the hospital staff finally showed the body at the family’s insistence, the deceased’s face was beyond recognition. However, upon closer inspection of the body, the parents identified it as their son’s by a birthmark of a mole on his chest. Yet, while confirming the identity, they raised some critical questions. Firstly, are Delhi Police personnel and doctors so inexperienced that they could mistake the body of an 18-19-year-old boy for that of a 35-year-old man? Second, the body was completely naked; had there been his clothes, identification would have been much easier.
Furthermore, the family stated that Arpit used to wear a silver chain around his neck and a bracelet on his wrist, items that could have aided identification, but both ornaments were missing. However, one of the most distressing aspects of this entire episode is that had the family heeded the doctors and police and not insisted on viewing the body initially labeled as ‘unclaimed’, the authorities in the national capital would have declared Arpit’s body unclaimed and proceeded to cremate it. And had that happened, the family would have spent the rest of their lives living with the agony of forever waiting for Arpit’s return.
Given the circumstances, it is not wrong for the family to assert that the death caused by the building collapse was not merely an accident but a case of murder, nor is it incorrect for them to feel that Delhi is a terrible place. They maintain that they would never want any child from their family or the families of their acquaintances , to go to Delhi.
Arpit was the talented son of a lower-middle-class family. His mother, Pushpa, works as a beautician, and his father is a driver. They also have a daughter who is currently pursuing her college education.
