JEE aspirant ends life in Kota

This is the first reported case of student suicide in Kota in 2025. Around 17 coaching students died by suicide in 2024, and 26 in 2023

Jaipur: A 19-year-old engineering aspirant allegedly died by suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan inside his room in Rajasthan’s Kota, police said on Wednesday.

The student, identified as Neeraj Jat from Mahendragarh, Haryana, was found hanging in his hostel room at Anand Kunj Residency on Tuesday night. The hostel owner, who discovered the body during a routine room check, immediately informed the police and the student’s family.

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According to Additional Superintendent of Police (SP) Dilip Saini, Neeraj had been preparing for the JEE exam in Kota for the past two years. On Tuesday evening, Neeraj had gone out to eat with a friend and reportedly showed no signs of distress. When he failed to respond during the night’s attendance check, the staff looked through a window of the room and found his body hanging.

The student had used a hook attached to the ceiling fan to hang himself. The body was moved to the mortuary at MBBS Hospital on Wednesday, and the postmortem will be conducted upon the arrival of his family, said officials.

The hostel staff said that Neeraj had gone out for dinner with a friend on Tuesday evening and did not exhibit any signs of stress.

This is the first reported case of student suicide in Kota in 2025. Kota, a hub for competitive exam preparation, witnessed 17 cases of suicides by coaching students in 2024, compared to 26 such cases in 2023.

Alarmed by the increasing trend, the previous Gehlot government formed a committee in August 2023 to investigate the causes. The committee reported a few crucial reasons for students’ suicide including lack of holidays or leisure time, separation from family, loss of confidence due to poor performance in coaching tests, academic pressure and high parental expectations, physical, mental, and academic stress and other factors such as financial struggles, blackmail, and relationship issues.