Father of youth who collapsed at party demands probe

NEW DELHI: Harshit Chadha, a budding filmmaker, had turned 22 years old on September 29 (Thursday).

NEW DELHI: Harshit Chadha, a budding filmmaker, had turned 22 years old on September 29 (Thursday).

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Exactly a week later, Harshit died in a hospital in mysterious circumstances, with hospital authorities describing his death as the result of a ‘cardiac arrest’, a theory the boy’s father has found hard to swallow.

Harshit had gone to Model Town to celebrate his friend’s birthday on September 30, where he reportedly fell unconscious while the party was still on. He died six days later at a private hospital.

“He was a swimmer and a runner. He was perfectly fit and never got tired. How could he have died of a cardiac arrest then? I refuse to believe that theory. It is either conspiracy or negligence. A probe needs to be carried out,” Rajinder Chadha, Harshit’s father, told HT.

Though Rajinder is adamant to continue seeking justice for Harshit, he has also accepted that his only son is no more. The heartbroken father has now started collecting CCTV footages from several outlets he had visited with Harshit in the last few days as memories.

The police have not yet registered a case. “We have accepted the father’s complaint and will look into it. A post-mortem has been conducted on the body and we are waiting for the report to ascertain the cause of death and action required to be initiated thereafter,” DCP (northwest) Milind Mahadeo Dumbere said. Police said there were around 15 people at the party

Harshit, a graduate from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (VIPS) started working with various NGOs including Make a Difference and Bachpan Bachao Andolan at a very early age. Besides academics, the youngster used to make short documentaries on social issues, including child rights.

“During the three years at college from 2013 to 2016, Harshit was extremely active in co-curricular activities. He used to be busy always. He was a photographer, a video editor, a graphic designer and a brilliant story teller. He wanted to become a filmmaker and go to Bollywood,” Himanshu Kumar, Harshit’s cousin, said.

Harshit had reportedly spoken to his father and promised to return home by midnight, two hours before he fell unconscious.

“He was supposed to go for a shoot to Lodhi Hotel the next day. He assured us that he will be back home by midnight but he did not return. In fact, I was furious when he didn’t come back home. Around 1am, his friends called me asking me to come to the hospital,” Rajinder said.

The father blamed the lax attitude of hospital authorities for Harshit’s death.“He was not provided immediate attention. For 24 hours, no treatment was started by the hospital. Then I him shifted to another hospital. A lot of time was wasted before treatment finally started. Later, I was told that he suffered a cardiac arrest due to which his brain stopped working,” Rajinder said.

In 2015, Harshit had been awarded by Bollywood actress Vidya Balan for his short film Changing Habits.