Student found dead in Kota; suicide suspected

Police said the student was from Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow and she was found dead when her neighbours noticed she had not picked her lunch and dinner boxes

A 20-year-old student preparing for undergraduate medical entrance test was found hanging from the ceiling fan at her paying guest accommodation in Rajasthan’s coaching hub of Kota late on Wednesday night. Another student died by suicide in Kota on Tuesday, taking the number of such cases to seven this year.

Last year, 27 students preparing for competitive examinations died by suicide in Kota. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Last year, 27 students preparing for competitive examinations died by suicide in Kota. Five suicides were reported in Kota during the first three months last year.

Kamalesh Kumar, a local police officer, said the 20-year-old was from Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow and she was found dead when her neighbours noticed she had not picked her lunch and dinner boxes. “Later, they found her body after breaking the door of her room.”

The 20-year-old had enrolled for coaching in Kota over a year back and had shifted to the new accommodation on March 3. Police said no note was recovered in her case. “The body has been sent for an autopsy. A forensic team was also sent. We are probing whether there were any behavioural changes in her,” Kumar said. “We are also investigating why the hostel did not install spring-loaded fans as per the district administration’s guidelines.”

Amid a surge in suicides, the district administration on August 18 ordered all hostels and paying guest accommodations to install spring-loaded fans in rooms and to provide students mental support and security.

Kota is the centre of India’s test-prepration business, estimated to be worth ₹10,000 crore annually. Students from around the country arrive there after completing Class X, and register in residential institutes.

Fifteen 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.