NEET aspirant dies by suicide on her birthday night in Jaipur
The incident in Jaipur has taken the toll of student suicides across Rajasthan’s coaching hubs to 15 this year
An 18-year-old student preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical courses died by suicide in Rajasthan’s Jaipur during the wee hours of Saturday, police said.
“She used to stay with her parents in a flat in Vidyadhar Nagar area and was preparing for NEET in a local coaching centre. The incident took place at around 3am. Later, the neighbours informed police after recovering her in a critical state on Saturday morning. She was immediately rushed to the hospital where she was declared dead,” Rakesh Khayaliy, the station house officer (SHO) at Jaipur’s Vidhyadhar Nagar police station.
According to the SHO, the girl had thrown a party to celebrate her birthday on Friday evening. He said she had taken her first NEET attempt in May this year but failed to qualify. Police have also recovered a suicide note from her belongings on Saturday where she apologised to her parents for not being able to fulfil their expectations, said Khayaliya.
“The parents of the deceased or her friends have so far not mentioned any behavourial change in the girl. We will further question them about it. The body was sent for an autopsy. Further investigation is underway,” he added.
The incident took the toll of such incidents across Rajasthan’s coaching hubs to 15 this year. Thirteen students preparing either for NEET or Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) died by suicide in Kota so far this year while another NEET aspirant died by suicide in Sikar earlier this month, said officials. Last year, 27 students, preparing for various competitive examinations, died by suicide in the state.
Jaipur is known as the most prominent coaching hub followed by Kota and Sikar in Rajasthan, according to the officials. Students majorly from around the state arrive here in huge numbers after completing Class X and register in a test-prep institutes. They also enroll in schools, most of which are largely for purposes of certification.
Students attend classes only in the test-prep institutes, which prepare them for their Class XII examination, but more importantly, entrance examinations such as NEET and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). Some students find the grind stressful, especially because they are away from their families.
Amid a surge of such suicide, the Rajasthan government, on September 28, announced a series of measures to prevent suicides among students, such as a mandatory screening test, the alphabetical sorting of students into sections instead of a ranking-based one, etc.
The guidelines also recommended mandatory training for teachers, institute managers, other staff, and the wardens of the hostels and paying guest accommodations to enable them to assess behavioural changes of students and take further preventive measures.
The government warned of legal action against faculty of coaching institutes if they violated any of the regulations.
Amid a surge in suicides among students last year, the district administration on August 18 had ordered all hostels and paying guest (PG) accommodations to install spring-loaded fans in rooms “to provide students mental support and security”. However, the guideline is not applicable to apartments.
On January 16, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan released specific instructions for functioning of coaching centres and restricted enrollment above the age of 16. It warned of a penalty of ₹1,00,000 for institutes in case of any violation of the terms and conditions.