An 18-year-old JEE aspirant died by suicide in Rajasthan's Kota on Monday and left a suicide note for her parents apologising to them for not being good enough to take JEE. In the short note, Niharika called herself a loser and stated that suicide was the only option for her.
She was found hanging from the ceiling of her house. Her examination was scheduled for January 31.
"Mummy, Papa, I can't do JEE so I suicide (sic)," Niharika wrote in the note, as reported by India Today. "I am loser, I worst daughter. Sorry, Mummy, Papa. Yehi last option he (This is the last option)."
This is the second suicide in Kota in a week.
On January 23, a student from Uttar Pradesh, who was preparing for NEET through private coaching in Kota, died by suicide. Mohammad Zaid, aged 17 or 18, was living in a hostel and enrolled in NEET coaching in Kota. He was found hanging in his room. No suicide note was found.
Last year, Kota -- known for its coaching institutes for engineering and medical entrance examinations -- witnessed the death of 29 students by suicide.
Earlier, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by a Mumbai-based doctor Aniruddha Narayan Malpani accusing coaching centres of treating students like “commodities” to further their financial interests and thereby pushing them to the brink of death. According to the petition, while student suicide cases in Kota have made news, the situation is prevalent in other private coaching centres in the country, and no rule or regulation is holding them accountable.
Replying to the PIL, the Supreme Court had said that parents, not the institutions, put excessive pressure on students to perform well in competitive exams. It further blamed the mushrooming of coaching institutes for the increased number of suicides among students, particularly in Kota.
Meanwhile, authorities in Kota are urgently trying to tackle the mental health issues faced by the students in the coaching centres.
If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata).
Read more: Man faces murder charges for aiding over 100 suicides in 40 countries
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