Kota suicides: Students were depressed, did not attend classes for days, say police

Two of the three students preparing for competitive exams at a private coaching institute in Rajasthan’s Kota, who allegedly died by suicide, were under stress and were not attending classes for sometime, police officers familiar with the preliminary probe said.

On Monday, the three students – two from Bihar and one from Madhya Pradesh – were found dead in two different places.

“Preliminary investigation has revealed that two students, both from Bihar, were in stress and suffering from depression. Their rooms were unorganised and in a bad shape. They had not been attending classes for several days and the attendance card was being punched by someone else,” Kota superintendent of police Keshar Singh said.

Police said the two students were aged 17 and 19 and were residents of Sapaul and Gaya in Bihar. The duo were staying in a paying guest accommodation.

Another police officer familiar with the investigation said the two students were staying in adjacent rooms in the accommodation but were not friends.

“Here, the students only study and don’t even make friends which can be a stress buster. They wake up for classes in the morning, return with homework and just study almost all night. There is no ‘me time’ for them as the fear of lagging behind and pressure from parents don’t really allow them to think of recreational activities,” the officer, who has previously investigated such cases, said on condition of anonymity.

The institute did not respond to HT’s queries on the matter.

The family of the student from Gaya said he had secured 90% in the Class X board examination and was excited to study in Kota.

“He was fine and spoke to us on Sunday. We don’t know what happened in between. I demand a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the matter,” the student’s father, who is a civil contractor, said.

Dr Chandra Shekhar Sushil, senior professor and head of psychiatric department at Kota government hospital, said academic pressure leads to depression which further leads to suicide in many cases.

“Students don’t want to become doctors or engineers but come to Kota due to parental pressure. There is also a lot of competition here. Some of these students might be state or district toppers but here, they tend to lag behind, which adversely affects them,” he said.