In yet such incident emerging from Rajasthan's Kota, a 17-year-old medical aspirant allegedly hanged himself from an iron rod in his hostel room in the city's Jawahar Nagar area on Tuesday. As per the police, this was the ninth case of suspected suicide by a coaching student in Kota since January 2025. The deceased has been identified as Harshraj Shankar, who was a native of Bihar's Nalanda district. He had been preparing for the medical entrance exam in a coaching institute here since April last year, police said.
After being informed by the hostel caretaker that this afternoon that the boy had bolted the door from inside and was not responding, a police team reached the spot, Jawahar Nagar SHO Ramlaxman. The team broke open the room door and found the boy hanging to an iron rod, he added.
The ceiling fan in the hostel room was equipped with an "anti-suicide devise". So, the NEET aspirant arranged an iron rod to hang himself, the police said. No suicide note was recovered from the spot, the SHO said, adding that the body has been shifted to the mortuary of a hospital and a post-mortem would be conducted after the arrival of his parents who have been informed.
9th case of suicide this year
It is to be noted here that this was the ninth student suicide this year that took place in the city famous for its being a coaching hub. Six coaching students -- five JEE, one NEET -- killed themselves in January alone. Seventeen coaching students died by suicide in Kota in 2024.
Kota: A hub for medical, engineering aspirants
Kota has firmly established itself as the epicenter of India's booming test-prep industry, which is valued at an estimated Rs 10,000 crore annually, as per district administration officials. Every year, thousands of students from across the country flock to this coaching hub after completing Class X, aspiring to crack competitive exams. They enroll in residential coaching institutes that dominate the city's landscape, immersing themselves in rigorous preparation. Alongside, most students also register in local schools—primarily to fulfill certification requirements -- while their main focus remains on coaching classes that promise a gateway to prestigious institutions.
(With PTI inputs)
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