A day before the Satya Niketan PG building collapsed, 19-year-old Neeraj Bawa called his father in Jammu with some happy news: he had cleared his second-semester examinations.
It was their last ordinary conversation.
The following afternoon, around 3pm, Neeraj’s father, Darshan, switched on the television at his home in Kathua and saw images of the building collapse in Delhi’s Satya Niketan. Neeraj, a BA student at Motilal Nehru College, had moved to the capital from Jammu for his studies and was living in the PG.
As the family watched the rescue operation unfold on television, Neeraj’s sister noticed a tiny but unmistakable detail on one of the people being pulled from the rubble — a rakhi tied around his wrist.
That was how they recognised him. Neeraj had been trapped beneath the collapsed building.
He sent his location while trapped
When the building came down, Neeraj managed to stay in contact with friends outside. Despite being trapped beneath the debris, he called them and shared his live location.
His father later showed reporters Neeraj’s phone while recalling those tense moments. The location helped his friends establish where he was trapped and reach the area where rescue teams were working.
Neeraj remained beneath the rubble for several hours before rescuers finally pulled him out. What stayed with his father, however, was something Neeraj said after being rescued. “I told my son not to fear anymore and he replied, ‘Papa, I wasn’t scared inside when this happened.”
For a father hearing those words from his son after he had spent hours trapped beneath a collapsed building, they offered a glimpse of the composure Neeraj had maintained — staying in contact, sharing his location and waiting for help to reach him.
‘If you have a strong heart, you can see’
Neeraj was taken to AIIMS Delhi with severe injuries and has since undergone surgery. His condition remains critical.
Darshan said a doctor showed him a photograph of his son after the rescue.
“The doctor took a photo of him and showed it to me. He said, ‘If you have a strong heart, you can see. The wounds are deep.”
According to his father, Neeraj suffered severe injuries to both thighs. His family remains at the hospital as doctors continue treating him.
Neeraj is the only son in a family with three elder sisters. His mother has passed away. According to the family, one of his sisters has decided not to marry until her brother recovers.
The boy they recognised by his Rakhi
For Neeraj’s family, the memory of his identification has become inseparable from the chaos of that afternoon. In the first images from the rescue operation, there was little to help them recognise him. He was wearing a vest and his face was difficult to make out.
Then his sister noticed the rakhi.
That small thread became the link that told the family their son and brother was among those trapped beneath the debris.
The Satya Niketan PG collapse on September 6 killed seven people and injured five others. The five-storey paying-guest building has since come under scrutiny, along with other PG accommodations in the neighbourhood. Police have also arrested the PG operator as investigations continue.
But for Neeraj’s family, the wider investigation is secondary to a much more personal wait.
They are waiting for the 19-year-old who had called home to announce that he had passed his semester exams.
Now, they are hoping for another piece of ordinary news from the hospital:
Neeraj is recovering.
.
