Katni, Sep 7 — A day after returning to Delhi following a festival break, 21-year-old Arpit Jaj from Madhya Pradesh's Dewas was killed along with fellow Delhi University student Akshat Yadav from Katni when a building collapsed in the national capital's Satya Niketan area, turning two young students' pursuit of higher education into a tragedy for their families back home.
Arpit and 19-year-old Akshat were among those killed in the building collapse in Satya Niketan, near Delhi University's South Campus, around 1:30 p.m. on September 6.
The deaths have sent shockwaves across their native districts, where their families and friends struggled to come to terms with the loss of two young students who had left home to build their future in the national capital.
Akshat, a resident of Dubey Colony in Katni, was a first-year B.Com student at Delhi University and had been living in Delhi for around one-and-a-half years. His friend Krishna Rajak told IANS that the family initially remained unsure whether Akshat was inside the building that had collapsed.
"I got this information yesterday evening around 7 p.m. My friend called and said that an incident occurred in Delhi where the building in which Akshat lived had collapsed. We saw the news in the afternoon, but we were not sure if the building that collapsed was where my friend Akshat lived," Rajak said.
The uncertainty soon turned into anguish for Akshat's family.
"As soon as we found out, we rushed from wherever we were to his house. His mother and younger sister were there, and they were in a very bad state. Somehow, they were sent to Delhi with my father," Rajak told IANS.
Neighbour Sandeep Tripathi said that Akshat had completed Class 12 from DPS, appeared for CUET and subsequently joined Delhi University for B.Com Honours.
"After passing 12th grade from DPS, he gave the CUET exam and was a B.Com Honours student at DU. He had been living in Delhi for the past one-and-a-half years," Tripathi told IANS.
Akshat had recently returned to Katni for a festival break before travelling back to Delhi.
Arpit, a second-year B.Com student at Delhi University, was a resident of Jai Bajrang Nagar near the Kailadevi area of Dewas. He had completed his Class 12 from Central India Academy in Dewas. His return to Delhi on September 5, after celebrating Raksha Bandhan with his family, was his last journey from home.
His father, Bhupendra Jaj, runs a travel agency in Dewas.
The nearly 40-year-old building was reportedly not listed as dangerous in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) records, raising questions about structural safety and the monitoring of old buildings in densely populated areas.