16-year-old NEET aspirant dies by suicide in Kota, 25th case in 2023

In yet another tragic incident from Rajasthan’s Kota, a 16-year-old NEET aspirant hanged herself, an officer of the nearby Vigyan Nagar police station informed on Wednesday. The victim, identified as Richa Singh, was preparing for the National Eligibility and Entrance Test when the incident occurred on Tuesday night, Devesh Bhardwaj, an officer from the Vigyan Nagar police station said. She had been staying at a hostel at the Electronic Complex in Kota where she was preparing for the all-India medical entrance exam, the officer said, adding that she hailed from Ranchi, Jharkhand. Kota, the coaching hub of India, has been witnessing rising incidents of suicide among students with Rajasthan Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas saying that the tutorials are run with the sole purpose of making money. Last month in a similar case, two students committed suicide.

One of the students, hailing from Maharashtra jumped to his death from the sixth floor of a coaching institute. “It appears he went to his coaching institute to appear for a test. After the test, he jumped off the sixth floor of the institute,” said Devesh Bhardwaj, SHO of Kota’s Vigyan Nagar police station. The other student from Bihar was found hanging in his hostel room on the same day. “The student was living with his sister and cousin, who are also coaching students in Kota. He was preparing for NEET,” said an official from Kota’s Kunadi police station. Just eight months into the year, Kota has already seen 25 cases of student suicides.