For hours after his son died, Kanhaiya Soni didn’t know his son Yuvraj was no more. A second-year B.Com student at Delhi University’s Motilal Nehru College (Evening), Soni had moved to Delhi a year ago to pursue a dream: becoming a chartered accountant.

“Yuvraj is his only son, and out of fear, we’ve told uncle that Yuvraj’S injured,” his nephew Nitesh says. “Even after finding his body, we’ve still not worked up the courage to tell him the truth.”

Yuvraj was one of the seven people who died when a PG accommodation housing DU students collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan.

Twelve people have been rescued, with the Delhi High Court indicating that responsibility could extend beyond the PG owner to Delhi University and civic authorities as it flagged the “absolutely inadequate” number of hostels available to students. Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has suspended South Zone Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kumar and four engineers following the building collapse at Satya Niketan.

Back in Raipur, this is a time of uncertainty. Yuvraj is survived by his parents and a younger sister.

Yuvraj’s father owns a local pharmacy. He had last been home for Raksha Bandhan, returning to Delhi on August 31. “He only recently moved to the new building,” a local police officer said.

Near his house in Panchsheel Nagar, only memories live on. “We’ve known him for 10 years,” says one neighbour, Nitai P. “He used to play with my daughter.”

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For now, the family is returning with the body. “We were provided an ambulance by the district collector. The administration also provided us with a private cab for Yuvraj’s father Kanhaiya,” Nitesh told .

As they head home, the family expects nothing from the authorities. “We just wanted his body, which we have got,” Nitesh said.