Delhi:
It was an early morning joy ride that went horribly wrong.
Ravi Singh Chaudhary, Santosh Kumar and Ravi Shankar Gupta -- second year MA students at the Centre of Korean Studies at the Jawahar Lal Nehru University in Delhi - were killed on Friday morning when their motorcycle rammed into a tree in the campus.
While two of the students were declared dead when they were brought to the hospital, Santosh succumbed to his injuries an hour later. The three students, who were in their early twenties, were classmates and close friends.
Incidentally, the accident spot is a stone's throw away from the JNU vice chancellor's residence.
One of the guards posted at the residence heard a loud noise at 2 am on Friday. When he reached the spot, he found the injured students lying on the ground. The university administration was alerted and the students were rushed to the hospital.
Family members of the accident victims reached the hospital mortuary today morning.
Ravi Shankar Chaudhary's father, who rushed to Delhi from his hometown Gaya, cried inconsolably when he was taken to identify his son's body.
Santosh's younger brother Vikas, also a student of JNU, said, "He could have been brought earlier to the hospital. He was not taken in the first ambulance as they said his pulse was normal. By the time he reached the hospital, he had already bled so much".
Though the post-mortem reports have not yet been revealed, police sources said two of the victims were suspected of having consumed alcohol.
Several students felt that instead of blaming the administration and claiming authorities were being lax in imposing discipline and safety measures, students need to question themselves.
One of them said, "Here, the administration or faculty does not impose rules. The student body decides on these matters. I am not sure if I can blame the administration for students drinking and driving in campus."
Shakeel, a member of the student's body, said, "Drunk driving happens all over Delhi. JNU is not an island cut off from the society".