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Two NEET aspirants allegedly die by suicide hours apart in Rajasthan's Kota
Police said that the student from Uttar Pradesh was preparing for the all-India pre-medical entrance test and arrived in Kota a month back
A 17-year-old student from Uttar Pradesh was found dead at a rented accommodation in Kota late on Tuesday hours after another student was suspected of having died by suicide, taking the number of such cases in Rajasthan’s coaching hub to four this month.
Police said that the student from Uttar Pradesh was preparing for the all-India pre-medical entrance test and arrived in Kota a month back. A house help found the teenager’s body when he went to serve him dinner.
Fifteen students have died by suicide in Kota this year so far. The same number of students ended their lives in Kota in 2022.
Debasish Bharadwaj, a local police officer, said they did not recover any note in the first case but found one in the second. “The bodies were sent for autopsy...Nobody reported any behavioural changes in them in the last few days. The investigation is underway.”
Around 225000 students are estimated to be preparing for medical and engineering entrance exams in Kota. Some find the grind stressful, mainly because they stay away from their families.
A surge in suicides has prompted the state government to consider a law to regulate private educational institutes to ease the academic pressure on students, especially those enrolled at coaching centres.
On June 22, the Rajasthan Police set up a cell for regular interactions with students at coaching centres to deal with the problem.
The state home department in February said 52 students died by suicide between 2019 and 2022 while blaming “lack of confidence in students if they score fewer marks” among the reasons for them.
In 2017, the Kota administration made the appointment of counsellors, weekly offs, recreation days, and shuffled test schedules compulsory after the death of 17 students in 2016.
A four-member team from Tata Institute of Social Sciences was also appointed the same year to study the causes of extreme stress and depression among the students that led to suicides. Since 2011, over 121 students have died by suicide.
Assistant police superintendent (Kota) Chandrasheel Thakur said as the number of students at coaching centres increased after the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of suicides has also gone up. “If we look at the pattern, the suicides are reported mostly in April, May, and June. Most of the fresh students arrive in the city around that time. Many of them fail to cope. The results of exams also come in the same period...which increases the number of suicides due to failures.”
(If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist. Helplines: Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050 and Sanjivini: 011-24311918, Roshni Foundation (Secundrabad) Contact Nos: 040-66202001, 040-66202000, ONE LIFE: Contact No: 78930 78930, SEVA: Contact No: 09441778290)
