Another NEET aspirant from UP ends life in Kota, 2nd such case in 2 days

Kota: In yet another tragic incident, a 19-year-old NEET aspirant from UP allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in her rented room at a PG hostel in Rajasthan's Kota.

The aspirant, a resident of Lucknow was found hanging from the ceiling fan on Wednesday. She enrolled for private coaching in Kota for over a year and was taking classes from the centre for the upcoming National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) examination for admission to an undergraduate medical course.

This is second such incident in the country's 'coaching hub' in two days and the eighth suicide by a student in Kota this year. 

Also read- Bengal NEET Aspirant Ends Life In Kota

The incident came to light when her neighbours noticed she had not picked up her lunch and dinner boxes. Finding it suspicious, the neighbours broke open the door and discovered her lifeless body in a hanging state. 

Upon receiving the information about the incident, the police along with the forensics team rushed to the spot and sent her body for postmortem at a hospital. 

According to an India Today news report, her family members have been informed about the incident and the post-mortem on her body will be conducted once her family arrives in Kota. 

No suicide note was recovered from her room and the reason behind her taking the extreme step remains unknown. 

Speaking to HT, Kamalesh Kumar, a local police officer said "The body has been sent for an autopsy. A forensic team was also sent. We are probing whether there were any behavioural changes in her. We are also investigating why the hostel did not install spring-loaded fans as per the district administration’s guidelines," adding that a probe against the hostel owner will be initiated once a report is submitted on the violation of guidelines.

This second incident comes after a 20-year-old UP-based NEET aspirant also ended his life in Kota on March 26 in a similar manner after he scored only average marks in his studies.

Medical Dialogues has been extensively reporting about the rising cases of suicide by NEET aspirants over the years. In the last year itself, more than 15 incidents have been reported wherein NEET aspirants studying in Kota committed suicide under pressure to pass the MBBS entrance test.

In August last year, amid rising suicide cases among NEET students in Rajasthan's Kota, the district administration issued directions to stop conducting routine tests and examinations at coaching centres for two months with immediate effect.

Later, the Ministry of Education (MoE) released guidelines for coaching centres, as per which coaching centres will not be allowed to enrol NEET aspirants below 16 years of age, make misleading promises and guarantee rank or good marks.

The guidelines detailing the framework on mental wellbeing come against the backdrop of student suicides in coaching hub Kota in 2023. The rapid increase in the number of student suicides flagged various issues plaguing the coaching industry, additionally, following complaints received by the government about rising cases of student suicides, fire incidents, lack of facilities in coaching incidents as well as methodologies of teaching adopted by them.

Also read- NEET Aspirant From UP Commits Suicide In Kota