2 student suicides in Kota, Rajasthan in 24 hours, six so far this month

Jaipur:

A student from Nagaon in Assam died by suicide in Rajasthan Cat Wednesday morning. The body of the student – identified as Parag – was found at his house in Mahaveer Nagar area.

It was the second such tragedy of the day and the sixth this month, raising fears of another wave of student suicides in Kota, the “hub” of students seeking to pass competitive university entrance exams.

Hours earlier, the body of Afsha Sheikh, a young woman from Ahmedabad in Gujarat who had traveled to Kota to prepare for the NEET exams (to get admission in a medical college), was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her hostel room in Jawahar Nagar neighborhood.

Police said an autopsy had been ordered and the family had been informed.

Four other student suicides were reported this month, starting with the January 7 death of 19-year-old Neeraj, who was preparing for the JEE entrance exam at the Indian Institute of Technology.

READ | ‘Beyond Me, Sorry’: Second student suicide in 24 hours in Kota

Twenty-four hours later, a second body was found; 20-year-old Abhishek, also a JEE aspirant.

READ | NEET student dies by suicide in Kota, third incident in 2025

On January 16, the body of 18-year-old Abhijeet, who wanted to become a doctor, was found. And again, twenty-four hours later, 18-year-old Manan Sharma died by suicide four days before his JEE appearance.

READ | Four days before the exam, a JEE aspirant dies by suicide in Kota

Throughout last year, 17 student suicides – excluding suicides committed by students – were reported in Kota. Last year, the number was 38 percent lower than in 2023, when 23 suicides were confirmed.

READ | 50% reduction in student suicides in Kota compared to last year

The specter of student suicides has always haunted “coaching centers” like Kota and was a controversial topic for the government of the day, especially among opposition parties eager to attack. However, the response was not always as sensitive as required.

Last week, Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar said after the fourth suicide was reported “Love matters” were one of the reasons why students committed suicide. He also urged parents not to put pressure on their children or wards to pursue degrees and careers they do not want.

Every year, one to two million young men and women flock to a small town in Rajasthan, each hoping for a ticket that will ensure a high ranking in the competitive examination and a lucrative career in the future.

This translates into an extremely profitable industry; last year, despite a reduction in the number of students coming to Kota, its coaching centers earned revenues of over Rs 3,500 crore.

However, student suicides are bad for business and in December last year, the state government announced a series of measures to stop these tragedies, including stricter regulations on coaching centers, hostels and student accommodation. Other measures have also been introduced, such as sensitivity training for hostel guards and suicide hotlines, which have been credited with reducing the number of deaths.

With the participation of the agency

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