KOTA: Two NEET students ended their lives within hours of each other in coaching crucible Kota on Sunday, one flinging himself to the death from the sixth floor of his institute and the other allegedly hanging himself in his rented house over low scores in tests.
The deaths of Maharashtra’s Avishkar Shambaji Kasle (17) and Bihar’s Adarsh Raj (18) took the student suicide tally in Kota to six this month and 22 since January this year, against 15 in all of 2022.
The fatalities came just over a week after Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government set up a committee to address the festering problem and asked it to submit a report in 15 days.
Late this evening, the Kota administration reportedly issued an advisory saying there will be no tests for a month at coaching institutes in the city that draws around 3 lakh students from across the country.
Kasle, a 12th class student and resident of Latur in Maharashtra, took the extreme step after coming out of his test room on the 3rd floor of the institute in Vigyan Nagar area around 3.15pm, climbed to 6th floor through spiral stairs and jumped into the backyard of the building.
The staff tried to rush Kasle to hospital but he succumbed to his wounds on the way, circle officer (CO), Dharmveer Singh said, adding no suicide note was found. Kasle’s scores had dropped from 575 a few months ago to 288 in the last routine test, the officer said.
Kasle had been preparing for NEET in Kota for 3 years, staying in a rented accommodation with his maternal grandparents, the CO said, adding his parents were government teachers in Maharashtra.
Barely four hours later, Adarsh was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his rented house in Kunhadi area. The Rohtas native had been living in the 2BHK flat with his sister and cousin brother, who were also preparing for competitive exams, police said.
Adarsh bolted his room from inside. Sensing something wrong, his sister and cousin brother broke the door open around 7.30pm and found him hanging, Kunhadi circle officer (CO) K.S. Rathore said, adding the cops had not so far found any suicide note in this case. Adarsh had been scoring low in routine tests at his coaching institute and was upset over it, ASP, Kota city Bhagwat Singh Hingad said.
The Kota suicides have set off alarm bells. It was on August 18 that CM Gehlot constituted the panel. The committee, headed by higher education principal secretary Bhawani Singh Detha, also comprises representatives of the government, coaching institutes, parents and other stakeholders. It has been asked to cover the entire gamut of issues in compiling its report and recommending remedies.
The deaths of Maharashtra’s Avishkar Shambaji Kasle (17) and Bihar’s Adarsh Raj (18) took the student suicide tally in Kota to six this month and 22 since January this year, against 15 in all of 2022.
The fatalities came just over a week after Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government set up a committee to address the festering problem and asked it to submit a report in 15 days.
Late this evening, the Kota administration reportedly issued an advisory saying there will be no tests for a month at coaching institutes in the city that draws around 3 lakh students from across the country.
Kasle, a 12th class student and resident of Latur in Maharashtra, took the extreme step after coming out of his test room on the 3rd floor of the institute in Vigyan Nagar area around 3.15pm, climbed to 6th floor through spiral stairs and jumped into the backyard of the building.
The staff tried to rush Kasle to hospital but he succumbed to his wounds on the way, circle officer (CO), Dharmveer Singh said, adding no suicide note was found. Kasle’s scores had dropped from 575 a few months ago to 288 in the last routine test, the officer said.
Kasle had been preparing for NEET in Kota for 3 years, staying in a rented accommodation with his maternal grandparents, the CO said, adding his parents were government teachers in Maharashtra.
Barely four hours later, Adarsh was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his rented house in Kunhadi area. The Rohtas native had been living in the 2BHK flat with his sister and cousin brother, who were also preparing for competitive exams, police said.
Adarsh bolted his room from inside. Sensing something wrong, his sister and cousin brother broke the door open around 7.30pm and found him hanging, Kunhadi circle officer (CO) K.S. Rathore said, adding the cops had not so far found any suicide note in this case. Adarsh had been scoring low in routine tests at his coaching institute and was upset over it, ASP, Kota city Bhagwat Singh Hingad said.
The Kota suicides have set off alarm bells. It was on August 18 that CM Gehlot constituted the panel. The committee, headed by higher education principal secretary Bhawani Singh Detha, also comprises representatives of the government, coaching institutes, parents and other stakeholders. It has been asked to cover the entire gamut of issues in compiling its report and recommending remedies.
