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A 17-year-old student preparing for the medical entrance exam allegedly took his own life in his hostel room in Kota’s Jawahar Nagar area on Tuesday, police reported. This tragic incident marks the ninth suspected suicide of a coaching student in Kota since the beginning of the year.
Who Was Harshraj Shankar?
The student, identified as Harshraj Shankar, was a resident of Bihar’s Nalanda district. He had been in Kota since April last year, attending coaching classes to prepare for the highly competitive NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), which determines admission into medical colleges.
How the Incident Unfolded
The tragic discovery was made after the hostel caretaker noticed that Harshraj had bolted his room from the inside and was unresponsive to repeated knocks. Concerned, he alerted the authorities.
“A police team reached the hostel after receiving information and broke open the door, only to find the boy hanging from an iron rod,” said Jawahar Nagar SHO Ramlaxman.
Anti-Suicide Measures in Hostels
Police noted that the ceiling fan in the hostel room had been fitted with an “anti-suicide device,” a precautionary measure implemented in many Kota hostels due to the rising number of student suicides. However, Harshraj used an iron rod to hang himself, bypassing the safety mechanism.
No suicide note was found at the scene, the police confirmed. His body has been moved to the mortuary, and a post-mortem examination will be conducted after his parents arrive in Kota. A detailed investigation is ongoing.
Rising Concern Over Student Suicides in Kota
Harshraj’s death adds to the alarming suicide rate among students in Kota, a city known as India’s coaching hub for engineering and medical entrance exams. This year alone, nine students have died by suicide—six of them in January, including five JEE aspirants and one NEET student.
In 2024, 17 coaching students died by suicide in Kota. The previous year saw an even higher number, with 26 student suicides reported in 2023. The increasing mental health crisis among coaching students has sparked discussions on the immense academic pressure faced by young aspirants.
Authorities continue to explore ways to provide better psychological support and stress management resources for students, but the growing number of suicides underscores the urgent need for stronger intervention.
