Boy hangs himself during video call with dad

An 18-year-old student preparing for Neet on Thursday hanged himself at the coaching hub of Kota during a video chat with his father who was 670km away at his home in Barmer, police said.

Karan, who lived as a paying guest in the city’s Kunhadi area, called his father, Unmanaram, in the morning. The two were talking when Karan, an aspiring doctor, got up and hung himself from a ceiling fan in his room, assistant sub-inspector Attar Singh said.

His father immediately called up Karan’s landlord Devkinandan and asked him to rush to the room. “I had to break the door of Karan’s room as it was locked from inside,” Devkinandan, who is a policeman, said.

He brought Karan down and informed local police. Karan was taken to a government hospital, where he was declared dead.

ASI Singh said no suicide note was found in the room and they didn’t know why the teenager killed himself.

“Since it was a video call, it was not recorded. The details are not known,” he said. An autopsy would be done after his parents reach Kota.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, or Neet, is an allIndia exam for students who wish to study medicine or dentistry.

Every year, around 150,000 students flock Kota’s 40-odd institutes to train for medical as well as engineering entrance examinations.

This year at least eight students have killed themselves. Seven students had committed suicide in 2017, while 16 had ended their lives the year before.

KOTA: