The families of the three students who died due to water logging in the basement of Rouse IAS coaching centre in Old Rajendra Nagar, Delhi, were angry after getting the bodies of their children late. Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in UP, Tanya Soni of Telangana and Naveen Dalvin of Ernakulam in Kerala died in this accident, whose bodies were kept in RML hospital in Delhi.
There was a long wait for the family members of the three deceased students at the mortuary of RML Hospital. Dharmendra Yadav, uncle of the deceased Shreya Yadav, said that he came to know about the incident through the media. He said, “I tried calling her, but her phone was switched off. Even the coaching centre’s number was not reachable. I reached her room, which was found locked.”
Dharmendra Yadav said, “After this I went to the coaching centre, where I met the DCP. He asked me to go to RML Hospital. I was not allowed to see her body at the hospital.” Shreya Yadav had completed her BSc in agriculture and joined the coaching centre in May. Her family members were at RML Hospital since 10 am, who went home with the body in the afternoon.
Students demand accountability, express security concerns
After this incident, there has been outrage among the students. They have demanded accountability from the Delhi government. Students of Rouse IAS Study Circle and other institutes have expressed their anger over this incident. Students protested outside the coaching center over the deaths in the basement and raised slogans against the authorities. According to preliminary investigation, a library was running in the basement.
A student said, “The biggest responsibility for this incident lies with Rouse IAS Study Circle because the incident happened there.” She said that when similar incidents happened in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi officials showed negligence and no strict action was taken even then. She also mentioned the incident that happened in Patel Nagar last week, in which a student died due to electric shock.
Protesting students were detained
Some students protesting in Old Rajinder Nagar have been detained. They were demanding action against those responsible for the death of three students and compensation for their families. Raising slogans of ‘We want justice’, the protesters blocked the road near Karol Bagh metro station, causing a massive traffic jam in the area. The police had to intervene.
After this, there was a scuffle between the students and the police. Some protesters were detained in this. Seeing this, many protesters dispersed and the police resumed the traffic movement there. The police also used body cameras and drones to monitor the activities of the protesters. After this incident, anger is increasing rapidly among the students.
Students will go to Jantar Mantar to protest
Aman Saxena, a student preparing for civil services, said, “If the authorities do not accept our demands, we will go to Jantar Mantar to protest further and press for our demands. We want justice for the three students who lost their lives in the incident. A large number of police personnel and paramilitary forces have been deployed here. We are not terrorists, we are the future of the country.”
Another student claimed that the basement where the incident took place had biometric entry. Due to its failure, the students got stuck in the basement. Another protester said that the matter of poor condition of coaching institutes should be raised in Parliament. Protester Amit Kumar urged that this incident should not be politicized. We are demanding action against the culprits.