16-Year-Old NEET Aspirant Dies By Suicide In Kota

A 16-year-old student who was preparing for the NEET examination hanged herself in Kota.

A 16-year-old student dies by suicide in Kota.

A tragic incident occurred in Kota where a 16-year-old coaching student, who was preparing for the NEET examination, took her own life. The student hailed from Ranchi, Jharkhand. "A coaching student, preparing for NEET, hanged herself in Kota. She was a resident of Ranchi, Jharkhand," Devesh Bhardwaj, SHO, Vigyan Nagar police station, Kota city says. In the span of just eight months this year, Kota, a prominent coaching hub in Rajasthan, has sadly witnessed the loss of twenty-five students to suicide. Among them, a student originally from Ranchi, Jharkhand, who was currently residing at the Blaze Hostel in the city, took her own life by hanging herself. Her body has been placed in the mortuary. 

Kota, a city known for its coaching centers, attracts approximately two lakh students every year, all with the hope of succeeding in competitive exams such as the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

This year, the district has experienced a distressing surge in student suicides, with authorities reporting a staggering 25 cases, the highest number recorded in any single year.

According to data from the Rajasthan police, there were 15 student suicides in 2022, 18 in 2019, 20 in 2018, seven in 2017, 17 in 2016, and 18 in 2015. No student suicides were reported in Kota in 2020 and 2021 due to the closure of coaching institutes amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In response to this alarming trend, the district administration had previously issued an order mandating the installation of spring-loaded fans in all hostel rooms and paying guest accommodations, emphasizing the need for safety measures in these educational settings.

The directive, issued by Kota District Collector Om Prakash Bunkar, had the primary objective of "offering mental support and ensuring the safety of students who study and reside in these accommodations, with the goal of reducing the incidence of suicides among coaching students."