18-year-old Arpit Jai lost his life in Delhi’s Satya Niketan PG collapse; what his parents did next has given his tragedy a new meaning: “He cant be here but…”

​Arpit Jai had returned to his Satya Niketan PG on the very morning of the building collapse.

For Arpit Jai’s family, Sunday began like an ordinary day. By the end of it, their 18-year-old son was gone. Arpit Jai had just returned to Delhi after spending the Rakshabandhan holidays with his family in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. He reached his PG accommodation in Satya Niketan on Sunday morning. Hours later, the five-storey building came crashing down, trapping students beneath the rubble. Arpit was among those who did not make it out alive.In the middle of a loss that is difficult to put into words, his family has made a decision that could allow a part of their son to live on: they donated his corneas.Arpit was a second-year student at Delhi University’s Atma Ram Sanatan Dharam College and was among the seven people killed in the Satya Niketan PG building collapse. The family chose to donate his corneas even as they struggled to come to terms with his death.

He had only just returned to Delhi

Arpit reached Delhi at around 7 am on Sunday after spending Rakshabandhan at his home in Dewas, MP. By afternoon, the building where he was staying, identified as Hostel Daze, had collapsed. His family tried calling him after learning about the collapse, but his phone was switched off. His parents then left for Delhi. Later, the search ended with the worst possible news.Arpit’s father, Bhupendra Jai, later described the shock. “My son had just returned from our hometown after the Rakshabandhan holidays. He had reached back to his PG yesterday morning, and the next time we saw is his dead body,” he said as per various media reports.The grief was accompanied by regret. His father said the family had not known about the condition of the accommodation. “Everyone is telling us how bad the condition of the PG. I wish my son had told me before. I would have never let him stay there,” he said.

A night of searching, then a painful identification

For Arpit’s friends and family, the hours after the collapse were spent searching for him. One of Arpit’s friends told media outlets that they had been looking for Arpit through the night. Eventually, AIIMS informed them that a body matched the identity details they had provided.Arpit’s family was eventually able to confirm his identity through birthmarks. “At around 6:30 am, his family reached, and finally they were able to do the identification of Arpit. The mother confirmed it by birthmarks on his body,” the friend said.

In the middle of grief, a decision to give

There was little that could make the loss easier. Arpit was young, had returned from home only hours earlier and had been looking forward to going back to college. Despite the shock, amid that grief, Arpit’s family agreed to donate his corneas.According to Official Humans of Bombay, Arpit’s father looked at his son one last time and said “My boy had so much left to see,” he said. “If he can’t be here, let his eyes help someone else see.” Before leaving for Arpit’s last rites, the family donated his corneas at AIIMS.

Seven lives lost in the Satya Niketan collapse

Arpit was one of seven people killed when the PG building in Satya Niketan collapsed on Sunday afternoon. The building, known as Hostel Daze, was being used as accommodation for students near Delhi University’s South Campus. Rescue teams pulled 12 people from the debris, while seven died.Police said repair or construction work was underway when the structure collapsed. The building’s owner, Hariram Gupta, was later arrested in Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi area. A magisterial inquiry was also ordered into the incident.The collapse has since raised wider questions about student accommodation in the area, including the condition of old buildings, unauthorised construction and safety arrangements in privately operated PGs. Students living in nearby accommodations began leaving the area after the incident, with some parents asking their children to return home.