Buried aspirations: Grieving families say, if this isn’t murder, what is? after losing CA and IAS aspirants to Satya Niketan PG disaster

A catastrophic structural collapse driven by commercial greed and lack of enforcement has claimed seven lives in Delhi’s Satya Niketan. A five-story paying-guest (PG) facility collapsed on Sunday, transforming what was intended as a safe haven for ambitious students into a deadly site.

Among the victims were five young students, many having returned to the capital merely hours prior after visiting their home towns for festive celebrations. They harbored aspirations of becoming civil servants and chartered accountants, hoping to build promising futures. Instead, their families were forced to search through rubble, monitor hospital wards, and navigate mortuaries to claim their children.

As two additional bodies were recovered, bringing the total fatalities to seven.

Akshat Yadav (18): Aspirations for civil services cut short

At the AIIMS mortuary on Monday, Sweta identified her son’s body using a mole on his neck and a surgical mark on his right leg. Akshat, a second-year BCom (Hons) student at PGDAV College, harbored dreams of becoming an IAS officer. Those plans ended beneath the rubble of the Satya Niketan structure, from which his body was retrieved at 7:00 AM on Monday.

Having lived in Delhi for two years and in that specific PG for roughly a year, Akshat paid ₹18,000 monthly for a first-floor room. He had returned from his home state of Madhya Pradesh two days prior following Raksha Bandhan. His cousin, Deepankar, who originally assisted him in finding the accommodation, recalled advising him to relocate to Mayur Vihar.

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"I told Akshat to shift to Mayur Vihar, but he did not. He told me that it was only a matter of one year," Deepankar said.

Only hours before the collapse, Akshat spoke with his parents via video call. "Everything was fine," Deepankar noted, adding that the family rushed to the location after seeing footage of the incident on social media reels. Relatives combed through the debris until finding his wallet, confirming he was trapped inside. A neighbor, Vijay Kumar Rajak, remembered him as an academically focused resident: "He mostly kept to himself and focused on his studies." Outside the mortuary, Akshat’s younger sister wept as the family faced the sudden loss.

Yuvraj Soni (20): leaving behind an ailing father

For Yuvraj’s family, the tragedy unfolded alongside another emergency. Upon receiving initial news that Yuvraj was in critical condition, his father, Kanhaiya, who operates a medical establishment in Chhattisgarh, suffered a breakdown requiring hospitalization. To protect his health, relatives withheld the news of Yuvraj’s death.

Yuvraj was on a phone call with his friend Gunjan when the building gave way. The line disconnected abruptly, and subsequent attempts to reach him failed. A BCom (Hons) student at Motilal Nehru College, Yuvraj was remembered by peers as quiet and diligent. According to his cousin, he had moved into a fourth-floor room just a week earlier.

Relatives hurried to Delhi upon learning of the collapse, enduring hours beside the search teams with hopes of a rescue. Those hopes ended when his body was recovered from the debris.

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Arpit Jaj (19): A regretted return to Delhi

In the wake of their loss, Arpit’s family opted to donate his corneas so that another person might regain vision. A second-year BCom student aiming for a career as a chartered accountant, Arpit had returned to his accommodation at 8:00 AM on Sunday following Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami celebrations in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. Within hours, the facility collapsed.

Initially, his family assumed he was resting when calls from his mother went unanswered. Once relatives learned of the disaster and arrived at the location, rescue operations were already concluding. His body was identified at 6:00 PM. At AIIMS, his mother expressed deep remorse over not persuading him to extend his stay at home.

Pawan Kumar (17): An unfortunate twist of plans

A minor schedule adjustment proved fatal for Pawan, a native of Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh. He had intended to visit a cousin on Saturday and stay through Sunday, but altered his plans at the last minute. Hours later, he was trapped in the collapse.

Pawan, who had four sisters, was studying Computer Science with Mathematics at Motilal Nehru College. His father is a retired veterinary professional. His cousin, Dhiraj, noted that the structure was visibly degraded.

Relatives arrived at the scene shortly after the news broke, clinging to rumors circulating on-site that several residents had been pulled out safely.

"Many people said that Pawan had been rescued and he was alive," Dhiraj said.

The family waited for official verification until 10:00 PM, when authorities confirmed Pawan had died. At the hospital, his father struggled to absorb the loss of his teenage son.

(With inputs from TOI)