The number of student deaths in Rajasthan's coaching hub of Kota rose to 22 after two NEET aspirants allegedly died by suicide on Sunday. In two separate incidents, Avishkar Shambaji Kasle, 17, and Adarsh Raj, 18, died after taking routine tests at their coaching institutes.
According to reports, they were disturbed by the low scores in the tests. A native of Maharashtra's Latur district, Kasle was preparing for NEET UG for three years and was living in a rented room with his grandparents. Police officials said that he jumped from the sixth floor of his coaching institute's building on Sunday evening, minutes after walking out of a room after taking the test. He was rushed to the hospital but succumbed on the way.
Police suspect the reason for Kasle's suicide is his low marks in the routine tests at the institute; he was scoring well earlier but dropped from 575 marks to 288 marks in the last routine test.
Raj, who hails from Bihar, had been preparing for NEET for a year and was living with his sister and cousin brother. When his sister and brother broke open the rented flat on Sunday evening, they found Raj hanging from the ceiling. ASP (Kota city) Bhagwat Singh Hingad said that he also was upset over scoring low marks in the routine tests. Raj, too, succumbed on his way to the hospital.
No suicide notes were recovered from either of the students' rooms.
According to reports, the administration has ordered all coaching institutes to suspend tests for two months. Earlier this month, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced a panel to look into the rising number of suicides among JEE and NEET aspirants in Kota. The committee composed of all stakeholders, including parents, representatives of coaching institutes and doctors.
The Kota administration had also come under sharp criticism over its recent decision to install spring-loaded fans in all rooms to provide 'mental support and security' to students. The fans will also have installed sensors that sound an alarm in the event of an attempted suicide.
Experts have been repeatedly drawing attention to the mental health crisis among these students who spend all day in cramped classrooms and face pressure to crack the country's toughest entrance exams.
