Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Swati Maliwal met the grieving families of the two deceased civil service aspirants at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital on Sunday. The previous day, three UPSC aspirants tragically lost their lives in the flooded basement of a well-known IAS coaching institute in Delhi’s Old Rajender Nagar area. The police have sent their bodies to RML Hospital for autopsy.
Swati Maliwal voiced the families’ demand for strict action against those responsible for the incident and committed to raising the issue in Parliament until justice is served. On her official social media handle on the microblogging site X, Maliwal posted, “I just met the families of the two daughters who lost their lives in the Rajendra Nagar incident at RML Hospital.”
“One daughter was 25 years old, and her father is a farmer in Uttar Pradesh. The other daughter was also only 21 years old. Both families are in a bad state, and their only demand is that the culprits be punished harshly,” she posted. “The families are repeatedly saying that this should not happen to anyone else. It is very sad that even now, among the Delhi government ministers, MCD mayor, MLAs, and councillors, no one has come to meet them. They are just sitting in AC and tweeting,” read Maliwal’s post.
Additionally, the post stated, “The minister and the mayor should come to them and apologize, tell them how they will get justice, and give them compensation of Rs 1 crore. I will raise this issue in Parliament, and I promise I will fight until I get justice.”
Earlier in the day, Maliwal expressed her anger over the delay in action against the officials responsible for the deaths of the three civil service aspirants, stating that the incident should be classified as ‘murder’ rather than a disaster. She called for a FIR to be filed against high-ranking government officials, noting the absence of any response from Delhi government ministers, the mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, or other officials hours after the incident.
The former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson also alleged corruption in the operation of illegal basements in the city. “Who will take responsibility for the deaths of three students due to drowning in the basement? Students reveal that they had been demanding drain cleaning repeatedly for ten days, but no action was taken. How can illegal basements operate without corruption? How can extra floors be added? How can encroachments on roads and drains occur without bribes? It is clear that there is no need to follow safety rules, just pay money, and the work gets done,” Maliwal said in a post on X. “Just sit in AC rooms every day and conduct ‘Important Press Conferences’. They are not ready to work on the ground. Haven’t they learned anything from the deaths due to electric shocks in Patel Nagar a few days ago?” she added in the post.
Notably, the incident in Old Rajender Nagar comes shortly after a UPSC aspirant was electrocuted on a waterlogged Delhi street. Meanwhile, Delhi police have arrested the owner and coordinator of the coaching center.
Earlier today, DCP Central M Harshavardhan identified the victims of the coaching center incident as Shreya Yadav from Ambedkar Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Nivin Dalwin from Kerala’s Ernakulam.
