Coaching student ends life in Kota, third in four days

KOTA : A student from Bihar’s Sivan district, who was preparing for the IIT-JEE examination at a coaching academy in Rajasthan’s Kota, hanged himself in his hostel room on Tuesday morning. This is the third such suicide in the last four days.

Assistant Sub Inspector Ramswaroop, Mahaveer Nagar Police Station, said that the student was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his hostel room by his cousin who is also studying in Kota. The student’s cousin had been asked to check on him after he did not respond to his parents’ phone calls in the morning. The student’s body has been sent for post-mortem which will be conducted upon the arrival of his parents.

This is the 19th student suicide so far this year in Kota.

On Monday, a 17-year-old girl who was preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET had hanged herself in the city. Kota Police said the resident of Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her hostel room in Adarsh Nagar of Kunhadi area on Sunday evening.

Data by the district administration show that 58 students attending coaching classes in Kota committed suicide between 2013 and 2017. Suicides by students had witnessed a fall in 2017 after a spike in 2015 and 2016 forced the district administration to implement several measures including mandatory counselling of students.

Psychiatrists and a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) say study stress, parental pressure, depression, homesickness, love affairs, liquor or drug abuse and emotional issues are the main reasons behind the suicides.

Around 150,000 students from all over the country flock to Kota every year to take classes for various medical and engineering entrance examinations.