17-year-old JEE aspirant dies by suicide in Kota

Kota (Rajasthan): A 17-year-old JEE aspirant allegedly hanged himself in his hostel room, the eleventh case of suspected suicide this year by students taking classes at this coaching hub, the police said.

Bhargav Keshav's body was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his room at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar in the Jawahar Nagar area here, they added.

A resident of Nandurbar district in Maharashtra, Keshav was a student of Class 11 preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) at a coaching institute here for the past two months.

The boy allegedly hanged himself to death in his hostel room on Monday when his parents, who had reached here earlier in the morning to meet their son, stepped out to arrange breakfast, Jawahar Nagar Circle Officer DSP Amar Singh said.

When the couple returned to their son's room with food for him, they found the door bolted from inside and informed the caretaker. The caretaker peeped through the window and found Keshav's body hanging from the ceiling fan with a bed sheet, Singh said.  The boy was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead, he added.    The reason behind the alleged suicide is yet to be ascertained, the CO said, adding that no suicide note was recovered from his room, nor did the parents cite any cause.

During the preliminary investigation, one of the victim's classmates said Keshav was sincere in his studies, the DSP added.

The deceased's body was handed over to his parents after the post-mortem and a case of unnatural death was lodged under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the police said.

The latest incident is the eleventh case of suspected suicide by a coaching student in Kota this year so far.

Last year, at least 15 coaching students died by suicide. More than 2.25 lakh students are estimated to be taking classes in various coaching centres in the city this academic session to crack entrance exams of medical and engineering colleges.