NEET student dies by suicide in Kota, hours after another case in Jodhpur: Cops
With this incident, the toll of such cases in Rajasthan rose to 10 this year- of which nine were in Kota while one was in Jodhpur
Jaipur: A 17-year-old student preparing for National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical courses allegedly died by suicide in Rajasthan’s Kota on Tuesday. The incident occurred hours after a 19-year-old NEET student allegedly died by suicide in a hostel in Jodhpur.
With this incident, the toll of such cases rose to 10 this year across the state- of which nine were in Kota while one was in Jodhpur, said officials. Last year, at least 23 students died by suicide in Rajasthan, of which 20 were in Kota, down from 27 a year ago.
The station house officer (SHO) of Kota’s Jawahar Nagar police station, Ram Laxman Gurjar said, “The student in the latest incident, a native of Bihar’s Nalanda, arrived in Kota in April last year and had been staying in hostel in the city’s Jawahar Nagar main road area to prepare for NEET in a reputed coaching institute.”
“On Tuesday afternoon, when he did not respond to several knocks by his friends, the hostel owner arrived, broke open the door and found him dead,” the officer said, adding that no suicide note was recovered from the room.
The SHO also said that the body was already sent for an autopsy while his parents were also informed. “We are also probing whether the anti-suicide device was absent in the hostel’s fan. An investigation is also underway regarding his attendance and performance in the coaching centre,” he said.
Amid a surge in suicide cases in Kota, where students from all over the country arrive in huge numbers after completing Class 10 to prepare for various competitive exams — including JEE and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG for admission to medical courses —, the Kota district administration in August 2023 issued several guidelines for hostels and paying guest (PG) accommodations, including installation of spring-loaded fans in rooms “to provide students mental support and security”.
Earlier, an 18-year-old NEET student from Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur died by suicide in Kota on February 11. A 23-year-old NEET aspirant from Gujarat and another 18-ear-old JEE aspirant from Assam died by suicide in Kota on January 22.
Earlier, a 17-year-old JEE student from Rajasthan’s Bundi also died by suicide at his own residence in Kota on January 17, a day after the death of another 18-year-old NEET aspirant from Odisha on January 16, who had been studying in a reputed coaching centre in Kota for the previous two years, said police.
On January 7, a 19-year-old JEE aspirant from Haryana died by suicide at his hostel accommodation in Kota’s Rajeev Gandhi Nagar while the next happened on January 8 in which another 20-year-old student from Madhya Pradesh was also found dead at his hostel accommodation in Vigyan Nagar.
Kota is the centre of India’s test-prep business, estimated to be worth ₹10,000 crore annually, according to officials in the district administration. Students from around the country arrive here in huge numbers after completing Class X, and register in residential test-prep institutes. They also enrol 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.
According to police data, 15 students died by suicide in Kota in 2022, 18 in 2019, 20 in 2018, seven in 2017, 17 in 2016, and 18 in 2015. No suicides were reported in 2020 and 2021 as coaching institutes were shut or ran in online mode due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
On September 28, 2023, the Rajasthan government implemented 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, and the admission of students who are in Class IX or higher.
On January 16, 2024, the Union education minister also 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.
The incident comes on the heels of the state government introducing legislation to regulate coaching centres amid growing concerns over a surge in student suicides, particularly in Kota. Last week, the bill titled Rajasthan Coaching Centres (Control and Regulation) Bill, 2025 was tabled in the state assembly.
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