Another IIT aspirant commits suicide in Kota: Second suicide in 2 days

17-year old Satakshi Gupta had been living at her aunt’s in the Instrumentation Limited (IL) Colony at Kota for last 5-6 years. She was found hanging in her room on December 4, 2015. She was preparing for her IIT JEE exam. Though, study stress is being blamed as the main reason behind her extreme step, her aunt’s death in August this year may also have affected her badly.

Satakshi was from Bihar. Her father Kamlesh Kumar works in Ghaziabad. Rajesh Meshram, the station house officer of Jawahar Nagar Police Station, told the media that as soon as police received the information about the unfortunate incident, they rushed to the spot and found Satakshi hanging in her room. No suicide note has been found on the spot.

Just a day before, another teenager – 19-year old Varun Jeengar of Ludhiana – had hanged himself in his PG accommodation in the Adarsh Nagar. Last year, there were 100 suicide cases registered in Kota – out of which, 45 were teenaged coaching students. This year, at least 8 students have already taken the fatal step since October.

Over 1 lakh students head to Kota every year for engineering and medical coaching which cost around Rs 2.5 to 3 lakh per annum. The city institutes are known for their high pressure environment and rigorous study schedules. Many students over the years have lost their will to live due to academic stress and high expectation of parents.

On November 4, Kota district administration issued guidelines for coaching institutes that suggested counselling, meditation, yoga, weekly breaks and recreation activities to ease the pressure on students.