IIT-JEE aspirant dies by suicide in Rajasthan's Kota, 4th such case this month

The police added that no suicide note was recovered from his room.

An 18-year-old student, who was preparing for the Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) at a coaching center in Rajasthan's Kota, allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday night in his PG room. This is the fourth such case of suspected suicide by a coaching student this month in Kota, and the 21st such case this year.

The family of the Belagavi-based contractor, who allegedly died by suicide last year, has sought the help of Congress government. (Agencies)

According to the police, the teen - who hailed from Bihar's Gaya district - had been taking coaching for the IIT-JEE entrance exam at a coaching institute in Kota and was living in a PG room in the Mahaveer Nagar area.

The incident came to light around 8 pm on Tuesday, following which the body was recovered from the room and was taken to the New Medical College Hospital (NMCH) mortuary for post-mortem, reported news agency PTI.

The teen was last seen on Monday evening, the police said.

The police added that no suicide note was recovered from his room. The investigation is underway.

Rising number of cases of death by suicide in Kota

According to the data available from the district administration, Kota recorded an average of three suicides per month among such students this year. Three other coaching students, including two IIT-JEE aspirants and one NEET-UG aspirant, also died in suspected suicide cases in Kota city this month.

Psychological tests for coaching students

In a bid to curb the rising cases of deaths by suicide by coaching students in Kota, the district administration will be conducting psychological tests of the students every fortnight, officials said on Sunday. According to the officials, the tests will help in finding out suicidal tendencies among students so that they could be provided with timely counseling, reported PTI.

"We are going to conduct psychological test every fortnight of every coaching student, whether he is in a coaching institute, hostel or PG," Kota district collector OP Bunkar told media after conducting a review meeting.

(With inputs from PTI)

Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).