St Stephen’s college holds condolence meet to commemorate drowned students
Delhi’s St Stephen’s College on Saturday organised a condolence meet to commemorate the lives of four people – three students and a parent – who died in an accident in Kerala on Friday
Delhi’s St Stephen’s College on Saturday organised a condolence meet to commemorate the lives of four people – three students and a parent – who died in an accident in Kerala on Friday.
The students were Anubhav Chandra and Aditya Patel, both third-year Sanskrit students, and Kennet Jose, a first-year Chemistry student.
The students were part of a group of 13 and were in Kerala on a college trip organised by the Malayalam Literature Society earlier this week. They had gone to visit a resort near Perumbavoor, which was run by Benny Abraham, the father of another student in the group, Maria Benny.
“Initially one student waded into the Periyar river and got caught in a swirl. The parent, who is native to the area, went to rescue him. The other two boys followed him to help. Unfortunately, all four lost their lives,” said John Varghese, the principal.
Reports claim that the part of the river that claimed their lives was a restricted area marked as dangerous.
Read: St. Stephen College faculty helping families of drowned students: Principal
Sadenned students and faculty members remembered the three students at the meet as socially and culturally active students.
“Our college has some of the country’s best students. To lose even one is a national loss. Here, we are dealing with the loss of three illustrious students… For us, they were family,” said principal Varghese.
“Kennet had a pleasantness about him. He was also a very good student. I will really miss him,” a teacher of one of his classes said.
Anubhav and Aditya were active members of the Hindi Sahitya Sabha and the Sanskrit literary society.
“Aditya was a university topper. He was also an excellent writer. He had a way with his words,” said Pankaj Mishra, an associate professor in Sanskrit.
Abhijeet, a hostel-mate of Anubhav’s, said, “He was always willing to go out of his way to help others. The last time I saw him was when he came to my room to say goodbye before the trip. I can’t remember how I responded. If I had known I would not meet him again, I would have said something.”
Kennet’s family, residents of Wayanad, have collected his mortal remains from Perumbavoor, and are taking him back home.
The college has made arrangements for Anubhav and Aditya’s family members to travel to Kochi to take their remains for final rites.