India: 20-year-old medical aspirant found dead in Rajasthan's Kota

A 20-year-old student from West Bengal was found dead in Rajasthan’s Kota city, a hub for medical and engineering aspirants. The student was preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical courses.

Police said 26 students have died by suicide in Kota this year.

The student was identified as Faureed Hussain. He was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his rented room in the Waqf Nagar area of the city. He was declared dead by the doctors upon being taken to the hospital.

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27th suicide case from Rajasthan’s Kota

Rajesh Pathak, a local police officer, said the student’s landlord informed them when the 20-year-old did not respond to several knocks. “Police broke open the door and found the student hanging from the ceiling fan.” He said police were told the student locked herself up in her room in the afternoon.

“No suicide note has been found yet. Her friends and the coaching faculties also did not report any behavioural change. We will be able to search the room after theparents reach the city. The body has been sent to the district medical college hospital for an autopsy. Further investigation is underway,” Pathak said.

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This is the 27th such case in Kota this year. The number is the highest since 2015, police said.

Kota, the hub of coaching centres, has been increasingly witnessing suicides of students for the past few months. It has raised concerns among the local authorities.

Kota’s coaching centres havean estimated business worth Rs 10,000 crores annually. Students from around the country go to Kota after completing class 10th. Some students find it difficult to survive in the highly competitive environment, while otherscan’t take the stressful grind at all and give up on life.

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On September 19 this year, a 16-year-old student from Uttar Pradesh died by consuming poison while another from Jharkhand died on September 13. Two other medical students from Bihar and Maharashtra also died by suicide in August this year within six hours after appearing for their weekly test.

With such rising cases, Kota has been notoriously called a “suicide hub” in the past.

(With inputs from agencies)