Delhi Building Collapse: Family Keeps Son's Death From Father During Journey Home

As a family in Raipur prepares to receive the body of their son, they are carrying a burden of grief and a painful secret: they have not yet told the father that his only son is dead.

Yuvraj Soni, a second-year B.Com student at Delhi University's Motilal Nehru College (Evening), was among the seven people who died when a paying guest accommodation collapsed in Delhi's Satya Niketan. He had moved to the capital about a year ago with the ambition of becoming a chartered accountant.

His father, Kanhaiya Soni, who runs a local pharmacy in Raipur, remains unaware of the tragedy. "Yuvraj is his only son, and out of fear, we've told uncle that Yuvraj's injured," said his nephew, Nitesh. "Even after finding his body, we've still not worked up the courage to tell him the truth."

Yuvraj had last visited home for Raksha Bandhan, returning to Delhi on August 31. According to a local police officer, he had recently shifted to the building that collapsed.

In his Panchsheel Nagar neighbourhood, neighbours remember a young man known for a decade. "He used to play with my daughter," recalled Nitai P.

The district administration provided an ambulance for the body and a private cab for the family. As they make the journey home, they hold no expectations from the authorities. "We just wanted his body, which we have got," Nitesh said.

The collapse has prompted scrutiny beyond the immediate tragedy. The Delhi High Court has suggested that responsibility could extend beyond the PG owner to Delhi University and civic authorities, pointing to the "absolutely inadequate" number of hostels for students. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has suspended its South Zone Deputy Commissioner and four engineers in connection with the incident. Twelve people were rescued from the site.