close_game
close_game

17-year-old NEET student dies by suicide in Rajasthan’s Sikar: Police

Dec 23, 2024 01:46 PM IST

Police said that the student had arrived in Rajasthan’s Sikar two years ago and had been preparing for NEET at a reputed coaching institute in the city

A 17-year-old girl student preparing for the National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET) allegedly died by suicide in Rajasthan’s Sikar on Sunday night, taking the toll of such incidents across the state’s coaching hubs to 23 this year, said police.

Police said that no suicide note was recovered from the room. (Representational image)
Police said that no suicide note was recovered from the room. (Representational image)

According to police, the student arrived in Sikar two years ago and had been preparing for NEET, to secure admission in an undergraduate medical course, at a reputed coaching institute.

“She had been staying in rented accommodation in Sikar’s Mohalla Naykan. The matter came to the light when she did not respond to her landlord who knocked on the door several times on Sunday night. The landlord then broke open the door and found her dead,” said an officer.

The officer also said that no suicide note was recovered from the room. “An FSL team was also called to examine the spot. The girl’s parents were also informed. We will question them about any behavioural changes in the victim in the last few days. We are also probing whether there was any deterioration in her performance or attendance in the coaching centre,” the officer said.

Of the 23 such deaths in Rajasthan this year, 20 incidents took place in Kota, and two in Sikar and one in Jaipur.

Last year, 27 students, preparing for various competitive examinations, had died by suicide in the state.

While Kota houses the maximum number of JEE and NEET aspirants across the country, the state government estimates that Sikar houses the second largest number of JEE and NEET aspirants. Most of them arrive here after completing Class X, and register in residential test-prep institutes, which also prepare them for their Class XII examination, besides for the entrance examinations such as NEET and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).

Last year, amid a surge in suicides among students, the district administration on August 18 had ordered all hostels and paying guest (PG) accommodations to install spring-loaded fans in rooms “to provide students mental support and security”. However, the guideline is not applicable to apartments.

On September 28, the Rajasthan government announced a series of measures to prevent suicides among students, such as a mandatory screening test, the alphabetical sorting of students into sections instead of a ranking-based one.

The guidelines also recommended mandatory training for teachers, institute managers, other staff, and the wardens of the hostels and paying guest accommodations to enable them to assess behavioural changes of students and take further preventive measures.

The government warned of legal action against faculty of coaching institutes if they violated any of the regulations.

On January 16, the Union education minister also released specific instructions for functioning of coaching centres and warned of a penalty of 1,00,000 for institutes in case of any violation of the terms and conditions.

rec-icon Recommended Topics
Share this article
See More
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, February 14, 2025
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On