Protesting Students Start Indefinite Strike Over Delhi Basement Deaths

The civil services aspirants, who are protesting outside Rau's coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar on Tuesday went on an indefinite hunger strike, demanding action in the case of the death of three students.

One of the protesting students said that ten aspirants have started an indefinite hunger strike till their main demands, including compensation of Rs five crore to the victims' families, are met.

"Somewhere we had a brief hope that the administration will listen to us, we will be heard, heard by the UPSC coaching lobby, heard by the authority, but after four days we have come to a realisation that this protest is going nowhere," said a woman, who is on a hunger strike.

"We are not taken seriously. Just because we are aspirants, they think that we will break and after some days we will go back to our studies. So here we are to make sure that this incident does not disappear till justice is served," she stated.

The main demands are compensation of Rs five crore to the victims' families, all the details of the FIR filed in the incident, the committee should report within a specified time frame and prohibition on using basements for libraries and classes across Delhi, another protestor added.

Three civil services aspirants died on Saturday evening after water from a flooded drain gushed into the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar where a library was set up.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)