“His birthday is in October, he would’ve turned 20,” said Pushpa, Arpit Jahaj’s mother, recalling his last birthday, when the family surprised him with a silver bracelet. “His bracelet and neck chain were gone. I was able to identify my son only with the birthmark near his shoulder,” she said.

Arpit, a second-year student at Delhi University’s Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College, had returned to Delhi from his home in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday morning after spending Rakshabandhan with his family. By Monday afternoon, after the debris was cleared at the Satya Niketan collapse site, he was among the seven confirmed dead. Five others who were injured are receiving treatment.

He had last spoken to his mother around 12:30 pm on Sunday. The family rushed to Delhi from their home in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, after being informed of the incident by Arpit’s uncle who lives in Ghaziabad.

At the AIIMS Trauma Centre, the waiting room was a daunting place. “We had to wait for a long time to see our son. The police made us wait,” said Pushpa.

Arpit had scored 95 per cent in his Class 12 board examinations and cleared the CUET examination with flying colours, which led to his admission to DU. His mother said he was also preparing for another course related to accountancy.

“Maybe my son would have been saved if the rescue had happened on time,” said his father Bhupendra, adding the family had donated his son’s corneas and........

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