NEET aspirant from Jind found hanging in Kota

KOTA: Yet another student death rocked Rajasthan’s Kota, the hub of coaching for higher studies, Friday night when a 17-yearold girl was found hanging from the ceiling of her hostel room. Police suspect it to be a case of suicide.

Neeraj Kumari, a resident of Haryana’s Jind, was studying in Class 12 and also preparing for NEET at a coaching institute here. Hers is the second death of a competitive exam aspirant reported from Kota in the New Year and comes two days after the body of a 16-year-old student was found floating in Chambal river.

Circle inspector, Jawahar Nagar Police Station, Kota, Neeraj Kumar said that no suicide note was found in Neeraj’s room. The incident came to light when her friends knocked at the hostel room door and got no response. They informed the hostel warden who climbed up a ventilator and saw Neeraj’s body hanging from the ceiling.

“The girl had completed her course and was to return to her home on January 11,” the police official said, adding they are yet to ascertain the cause of death.

Police suspect that the girl may have died late Thursday or early on Friday.

The circle inspector said that chances of students taking the extreme step remain high during the December-january months. It is the time when the coaching course gets completed and the youngsters are most vulnerable fearing failure in the coming examinations.

On January 4, the body of a student from Bihar was found floating in Chambal river, almost a week after he was reported missing.

Anurag Bharti, a NEET aspirant who had been preparing for the exam at a coaching centre in Kota, had gone missing on December 28.

Last year, seven student suicides were reported from Kota compared to 16 who took the extreme step in 2016.