14 cases of student suicides reported from Kota so far in 2025

Every year, several number of suicide cases by coaching students is reported in Rajasthan's Kota city, which is also famously known as "coaching capital of India".

So far this year, a total of 14 such cases have been reported in the city, as per news agency PTI. In 2024, the figure stood at 17, while 2023 saw 26 cases of suicide by coaching students.

The total tally of 2025 went up to 14 with the recent alleged suicide of a NEET aspirant in Kota's Parshavnath area ahead of the national medical entrance exam scheduled to take place on Sunday, police said.

The girl was aged under 18 years and hailed from Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur, Kunhadi police station's circle inspector Arvind Bhardwaj told news agency PTI.

The girl had been living with her parents in Rajasthan's Kota for the past several years, preparing for NEET-UG at a coaching institute there.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET-UG), which is conducted by the National Testing Agency, is set to take across the nation on Sunday, May 4.

Bhardwaj said that no suicide note was recovered from her room, adding that the body had been sent for a postmortem examination.

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A few days ago, a 23-year-old NEET aspirant from Delhi had abruptly told his parents that he would not appear for the national level medical entrance test this year. Three days later, his body was found in the bushes near a railway track in Kota, with preliminary probe suggesting that he had ingested a poisonous substance.

The deceased had confided in his sister that he needed another year to get fully prepared for the medical entrance exam.

Further earlier, on April 22, an 18-year-old NEET aspirant had died by suicide in his hostel room. He had mentioned in a note that neither his family nor his preparation for the NEET-UG exam was the reason behind the extreme step, police had said.

NEET-UG 2025

The 2024 NEET-UG examination was under a major controversy, embroiled in allegations of paper leaks, inflation of marks, and legal battles over grace marks. Nationwide protests and scrutiny from the Supreme Court marked last year's entrance exam. In view of the row's aftermath, NTA has ensured heavy security arrangements for the test this year.

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It said that it had taken "all measures" to ensure the integrity of the exam. In addition to students checking before entering exam centres as per NTA's standard security protocols, they would also undergo checks by district police.

Question papers and OMR sheets will be transported under full police protection and authorities will closely monitor coaching centers and online platforms to prevent any cheating or untoward incident.

(with PTI inputs)

Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).