Kota: In another incident of suspected suicide by a competitive examination aspirant in coaching hub Kota in Rajasthan, a youth from Uttar Pradesh preparing for the medical entrance examination allegedly ended his life inside the hostel room in the district on Tuesday, police said. The deceased has been identified as 18-year-old Mohammad Zaid, resident of Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.
It is learnt that Zaid was staying at a hostel in Kanchan Residency locality of New Rajiv Gandhi Nagar area of Kota for the last one year.
He was preparing for a medical entrance examination. Jawahar Nagar police station's night duty officer Devendra Singh said that information was received from Kanchan Residency in New Rajiv Gandhi Nagar at 9:30 pm on Tuesday night about a student being locked in his room.
When the police reached the spot and opened the door, Zaid was found dead inside, Singh said. He said that students from Zaid's village were also staying at the hostel and were preparing for the exam. Zaid's friends told police that he used to study at night and during the day he used to sleep after having food or go for a walk.
They said that they called him in the evening, but he did not talk. When he did not open the door for a long time, his friends peered inside from the window and found Zaid unconscious. The students informed the hostel operator and the police. Police officer Singh said the body has been sent for post-mortem. He said that Zaid's family was also informed after which his uncle has reached Kota and is getting the paperwork done.
After the post-mortem, the body will be handed over to the family members. Deputy Superintendent of Police Pratham Bhavani Singh said that no suicide note has been found in Zaid's room. It is suspected that he was under stress after failing in his first attempt for NEET UG. Meanwhile the hostel operator is being blamed for the incident by not having installed an “anti-suicide rod” in the ceiling fan.
The district administration has given strict instructions to the hostel owners to install anti-suicide rods, which make the ceiling fans swing down after more than 40 kg of weight is hung. DSP Bhavani Singh says that in this regard, a letter will also be written to the District Collector and the committee formed to prevent suicide of coaching students, so that action can be taken against the hostel management.
Recently the Central Government also issued guidelines to adopt mitigation measures with regard to rising suicide cases. Coaching hub Kota in Rajasthan has been witnessing a spike in the suicide cases among the competitive examination aspirants. Last year, more than two dozen suicide cases were reported from the district.
