Satya Niketan victim’s father seeks Govt support for son

“Tu sher hai sher,” 67-year-old Darshan Dass says as he caresses his son’s forehead, sitting by his ICU bed, reminding the 20-year-old that enduring the darkness-under tonnes of debris from the five-storey building that collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan-was an act of sheer courage.

When Neeraj, a second-year undergraduate at Motilal Nehru College, left his home in Jammu for Delhi on a scholarship programme, the father thought his only son was headed towards the life he had worked to give him — college education, a promising career, and the ability to ‘stand on his own feet’.

It has been 25 days since the building in which his paying-guest accommodation was housed crumbled into dust and debris — killing seven, including five students. Dass no longer thinks about his son’s career. All he wants now is to see his son standing on his feet again — made difficult by a fractured hip, deep lacerations around the groin and upper thighs, and injuries on his abdomen and back.

The distraught father wants assurance that his son — who remains in the ICU (intensive care unit) of AIIMS nearly a month after the September 6 tragedy — has a future.

“I want the Government to give him some job. If he is not in a condition to study or work as he did before, he should at least have something to fall back on. Today he is in the hospital, and the government is helping, but what happens when he comes out? How will I afford his physiotherapy, medicines, equipment and any further treatment?” the retired serviceman tells PTI.

Dass said his son has undergone around six surgeries. “A machine has been inserted in his back, and another surgery is due soon. His left leg is completely stiff; only his right foot moves. The doctors have not told me how long this will continue or when he will be able to stand,” Dass says, his eyes welling up.

The 67-year-old said he spends his days in the corridor outside the ICU, waiting for the next opportunity to see his son or for someone to tell him if Neeraj needs something. He goes inside when allowed, sits with his son for a while and, once again, returns to the corridor — where the hours pass around the same unanswered question: “What will happen after this?”

For now, Dass said, Neeraj is being provided treatment free of cost. The Delhi Government has also given the family Rs 5 lakh in assistance, which he said has helped a lot. But the retired serviceman, who receives an Rs 35,000 monthly pension, is worried about how he will manage once his son is released from the hospital.

Dass’ wife died of pneumonia in 2016. Of their five children, four are daughters — Neeraj the only son. “Neeraj’s mother died of pneumonia. I have done whatever I could for my family, but now, when I see my son lying like this, I keep thinking if his mother were here, perhaps he would have been better taken care of,” the father laments.

The accident has also stalled Neeraj’s education. His college principal has offered to arrange online classes, but Dass says his son is currently not in a condition to think about studies or examinations.

“He asks me, ‘How will I focus?’ How can he study when he is lying there; he cannot even move his legs. He can attend classes online maybe, but how will he sit for examinations? Earlier, he was always thinking about what to do with his career; now, he doesn’t know if he will ever be able to walk again,” the father said.

Dass finds it difficult to recall the boy he watched leave Jammu for Delhi. Neeraj had been a quiet, introverted child who spent most of his time studying. He studied at an Army school and loved football. “He became a different boy after coming to Delhi. He worked on himself, became confident and made so many friends,” Dass said.

He remembers the night he learnt his son was trapped beneath the collapsed building. Neeraj had returned to Delhi on August 29 after visiting Jammu for Raksha Bandhan on August 26. When footage of the Satya Niketan building collapse appeared on television, Dass noticed a rakhi on the wrist of one of the victims and recognised it as his son’s.

“Beta, dekhna, yeh tera bhai toh nahi hai? (Look, is that your brother?)” He recalled asking one of his daughters. The PG in-charge called him several hours later. Dass said he borrowed money from his daughter, hired a taxi, and left for Delhi immediately.

“On the way, I kept thinking what I would find. A building had collapsed on him — tonnes and tonnes of stone and rubble. I wondered what could be left of him. What must have happened to his body? When I finally saw him, his face and upper body were intact. It was some relief. Then I saw the injuries.”