Ballia (UP):

A 20-year-old student preparing for IIT in Rajasthan’s Kota allegedly died suicide at his home in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia, police said today.

Roshan Verma was sleeping with his family members in the verandah of his house in Devki Chhapra village Monday night. At some point, he went to his room and hanged himself from the fan, they said.

After completing his Class 12 exams, Roshan was preparing for IIT in Kota. He had come home on holiday, police said.

His family came to know about the incident the next morning, they said.

According to the family, Roshan had been suffering from a severe headache for the last few days and was under treatment. It is believed that he died by suicide because of it, SHO Dharam Veer Singh. The body has been sent for post-mortem, the SHO said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Kota:

Rajasthan minister Shanti Dhariwal has said love affair was a reason behind many suicide cases among students, including a 16-year-old girl who died at her hostel recently, provoking her father to ask him for evidence.

The minister claimed at a press conference on Wednesday evening that there was a letter left by the girl that suggested that a love affair was the cause.

The local police, however, said there was no letter or suicide note recovered from the room of the girl who allegedly hanged herself on Tuesday night.

“You will be sorry to hear that a girl has also committed suicide today. It has been found that she committed suicide due to an affair. She had left a letter… All the suicides committed here (by coaching students) needed to be investigated thoroughly to find exact reason,” Mr Dhariwal told reporters.

The urban development and housing minister made the remarks during the press conference with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot here.

Mr Dhariwal also said that “parental pressure” is another reason behind suicide by students in Kota, a coaching hub.   

However, the father of the NEET aspirant Richa, who reached Kota from Ranchi on Thursday morning to receive her body, expressed strong objection to Mr Dhariwal’s remarks and demanded evidence to prove his claims.

“My daughter did not have any affair. If he (Dhariwal) has any such evidence, he should share it with me,” Ravindra Sinha, the girl’s father, said while speaking to media.

He also said his daughter had complained to him that some boys in Kota would tease her while going to and coming from a coaching institute.

Mr Sinha also expressed dissatisfaction over counselling facilities to coaching students in Kota.   Dhariwal could not be contacted for comment on Sinha’s demand for an evidence.

Meanwhile, Circle Inspector of Vigyan Nagar police station Davesh Bhardwaj, who is also investigation officer in the latest suicide case, denied having recovered any suicide note from Richa’s hostel room.

He also refuted love affair the reason behind the suicide by the girl saying police did not find any such clue from her room.

The police have lodged a case under Section 174 of CrPC, Bhardwaj said, adding that the girl’s body was handed over to the family members.

DSP Dharmveer Singh also denied of recovering any note suggesting love affair the reason behind the girl’s suicide.    The family members decided to perform the girl’s last rites at an electric crematorium in Kota itself, the DSP said.

The girl was a class 11 student and was preparing for NEET in a coaching institute here since May this year.

According to official figures, Richa became the 23rd student who committed suicide in Kota this year, the highest ever for the country’s coaching hub. Last year, the figure was 15.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kota:

Expressing concern over the increase in student suicides in Kota, a Rajasthan minister on Monday said the burden of education loans on parents is one of the causes of stress among aspirants and that the Centre must formulate a policy so that parents don’t have to borrow money for education.

Two students, preparing for competitive exams in Kota, died by suicide on Sunday in a span of four hours. According to authorities, 22 students have died by suicide so far in the coaching hub this year — the highest for any year. Last year, the figure was 15.

“The pressure of studies is there. Apart from this, several students have the burden that their parents have borrowed money for their studies. So they worry, if they fail, what will happen to their parents,” Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) Minister Mahesh Joshi said.

He said the students live away from their homes and parents and this too is an additional burden on them which leads to suicides.

“The central government should make a policy regarding coaching institutes. There should be a system wherein parents do not have to take loans as it puts too much pressure on the students to succeed,” he said.

“The students think, “What will happen (to my family) if I do not succeed?” as their parents have taken huge loans to educate them,” he said.

Over two lakh students move to Kota annually to prepare for competitive exams such as the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for engineering and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical colleges.

Earlier, the authorities in Kota asked coaching institutes to stop conducting routine tests for students preparing for the NEET and other competitive exams for the next two months in the wake of these suicides.

Kota:

In Rajasthan’s Kota — India’s coaching district for aspiring engineers and doctors — two suicides within four hours on Sunday took the tally this year to 23, the highest ever recorded.

Avishkar Shambaji Kasle, 17, from Maharashtra and Adarsh Raj, 18, from Bihar both died in two separate incidents in the city on Sunday. The former jumped from the sixth floor of his coaching institute’s building while the latter hanged himself at his rented apartment.

In 2023, there have already been 23 suicides, compared to 15 in 2022. December 2022 was the deadliest month, with three suicides in a single day. Data shows that the number of suicides has increased by 60% since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that jump in deaths is due to the fact that the number of students in Kota declined in 2019 and 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

In 2017, 10 students ended their lives in the city compared to 12 in 2018 and nine in 2021.

Speaking to NDTV, Dr Bharat Singh Shekhawat, head of the psychiatry department at Kota Medical College, said that there needs to be a comprehensive change in the approach of both the coaching institutes and the parents to curb the alarming rate of student deaths.

“The number of suicides by students in Kota is the highest this year. We have been presenting suggestions to the Rajasthan government for 20 years, but no action has been taken,” Dr Shekhawat told NDTV.

“During the COVID-19 lockdown, there was no pressure on students as they had the support of their families and were at home. However, after the lockdown, the pressure has returned, and that umbrella support has gone.

“Students who are admitted to coaching institutes at the age of 15 or 16 are too young. They miss out on the benefits of school, such as extracurricular activities and friendships. They are also under a lot of stress due to the rigorous coaching schedule.”

Dr Shekhawat suggested a minimum age for admission at Kota’s coaching institutes so that the students are not thrown into the rigours of academia before they have matured.

“Coaching institutes should also regulate the coaching industry and ensure that the institutes provide a healthy and supportive environment for students,” he said.

Every year, over 2 lakh students move to Kota to prepare for competitive exams such as the JEE and NEET. Following the recent surge in student suicides, authorities have asked coaching institutes to suspend routine tests for the next two months.

In an effort to combat the increasing number of suicides, spring-loaded fans were installed in all hostels and paying guest (PG) accommodations in Kota. “Anti-suicide nets” are also being installed in balconies and lobbies of hostels so that students cannot jump to their deaths.

Hostel owners have said that the exercise to install nets and spring-loaded fans is being carried out with the aim of making their premises “suicide-proof”.

“We have installed huge nets in all lobbies and balconies to block students in case they jump from higher floors. These nets can hold weight up to 150 kg and also ensure that students do not get injured,” said a hostel owner, as quoted by news agency PTI.

Authorities have also passed directions to provide mental health support to students.

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