Politics · India Bureau
NEET aspirant's death marks eighth suicide in Kota coaching hub this year
A 20-year-old medical entrance exam candidate from Madhya Pradesh was found dead at her rented accommodation in Kota on Tuesday night, marking the eighth such case in the city this year. The student was reportedly distressed over her performance in a previous NEET attempt.
LSN India ·
Khooshbu Patel, preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) for the second time, was discovered hanging from a ceiling fan at her apartment in Landmark City under the Kunhadi police station jurisdiction. Her younger sister Khushi Patel, also a coaching student in Kota preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination, found the door locked from inside when she returned from classes around 9 pm and alerted building security, neighbours and friends after receiving no response to repeated knocking.
Local police confirmed Wednesday that no suicide note was found at the scene, and the exact circumstances leading to the 20-year-old's death remain under investigation. However, authorities said Patel had been experiencing significant distress following her performance in her previous NEET-UG examination, in which she had scored approximately 450 marks.
The incident adds to growing concerns about mental health and student welfare in Kota, a city in Rajasthan that hosts thousands of medical and engineering entrance exam aspirants annually. This marks the eighth reported student death in the city in 2024, with coaching centres and authorities facing mounting pressure to address the psychological toll on vulnerable candidates.