Student Suicide

From 'coaching capital' Kota in Rajasthan to industrialised Maharashtra, young people are battling stress

Two staff members were recorded making remarks that drew comparisons between the university's budget and Nepal's national budget, sparking widespread criticism

A third-year BTech student from Nepal was found dead in her hostel room, with allegations surfacing that she was harassed and blackmailed by her 21-year-old batchmate from Lucknow, Advik Srivastava

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the tragic loss of a student to suicide due to bullying in a Kerala school is heartbreaking and said those responsible -- both bullies and those who failed to act -- must be held accountable. "The tragic loss of Mihir Ahammed to suicide due to bullying in a Kerala school is heartbreaking. My deepest condolences to his family," Gandhi said in a post on X. "No child should endure what Mihir faced. Schools must be safe havens for children yet he suffered relentless torment. Those responsible -- both bullies and those who failed to act -- must be held accountable," the former Congress chief said. "Bullying isn't harmless; it destroys lives. Parents must teach kindness, love, empathy, and the courage to speak up. Believe your child if they say they're being bullied, and intervene if they are the bully," Gandhi said. Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty on Friday directed the Director of General Education (DG

Ratnesh Kumar Mishra, a 21-year-old student from Assam's Diburugarh was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his hostel room

A PhD student at IIT Kanpur died by suicide, marking the fourth such incident in a year; police recovered a suicide note in which the student said that she held herself responsible for her death

The father of the IIMA student who died allegedly by suicide has claimed that someone from the institute was harassing his son over an event that was to be sponsored by a private organisation, police said on Saturday. The student, Akshit Hemant Bhukya (24), who was studying in the second year of the MBA programme at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), was found hanging from the metal grille of the ventilator in his hostel room on Thursday. Bhukya's father has claimed that someone from IIMA was harassing his son over the use of the IIMA logo by a private institute for an event, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) Himanshu Verma said. Prima facie, this does not appear to be the reason why the student took the extreme step, but police will register an offence if something comes up in the ongoing investigation, he said. A Vastrapur police station official said that the matter related to the use of the IIMA logo was resolved on September 20. The private institute eve

In the past decade, the population of 0-24-year-olds decreased from 582 million to 581 million, yet student suicides rose from 6,654 to 13,044

The rate of student suicides has been escalating at twice the rate of overall suicides in the country during the past 20 years, according to a IC3 report

In another suicide case in Rajasthan's Kota, a 20-year-old student took his own life in a hostel room taking the death tally to 8 this year. No suicide note was found at the scene

The NHRC has issued a notice to the Andhra Pradesh government and the state's police chief over a college student committing suicide allegedly due to sexual harassment by a faculty member, officials said on Tuesday. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in a statement has observed that apparently, the "negligent and reckless attitude of the authorities" of the institution has led to this incident. The Andhra Pradesh Police arrested five people in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday in connection with the death by suicide of the 17-year-old girl, who made sexual harassment allegations against her college officials. She ended her life by jumping to death from a building in the intervening night of March 28 and 29, alleging that some unidentified persons had threatened to post her objectionable pictures on social media. The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that "unable to bear the sexual harassment by a faculty member, a first-year diploma student committed suicide by .

Earlier this year, a BTech student, Noor Mohammed, JEE aspirant Niharika Singh, and NEET aspirant, Mohammed Zaid, died by suicide in Kota

The victim was to give the JEE test in a day or two. She lived at her family home in Shiv Vihar Colony in the city's Borekheda area

The development follows amid increasing cases of suicides by students in Rajasthan's Kota and elsewhere, stemming from a mental-health epidemic due to study pressure and other related stress

For Ramesh Kumar (name changed) from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, 2023 was the worst year of his life. His family is still coming to terms with the loss of their elder son, who killed himself in a hostel room in Rajasthan's Kota where he had been preparing for the medical entrance exam for the past two years. Kumar's son is among 26 coaching students who died by suicide this year in Kota, the highest-ever figure. Last year, the toll was 15. The spate of student suicides also prompted the stakeholders to come up with desperate measures such as installing anti-hanging devices in hostel room fans and iron mesh in balconies and lobbies. Mourning the loss of his son, Kumar has decided to bring back his younger son, who had moved to Kota earlier this year and was preparing for the engineering entrance exam JEE. "They were living in separate hostels as they were enrolled in different coaching institutes. Our plan was that in 2024, my wife would move to Kota and rent a house so the three

A help desk dedicated to coaching students received 373 complaints in two months since its launch here in September and those suffering from depression were provided professional counselling and medical help, officials said. Several steps were taken by the Kota administration in September following a spurt in alleged suicides by Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and NEET aspirants studying at the coaching centres here. Among the various measures taken to ensure a stress-free environment, students in coaching centres were exempted from routine tests for around a month and noted motivational speakers conducted sessions with students. Officials said the the Students' Help Desk is constantly been working with JEE and NEET aspirants in informal ways while identifying cases that are of concern. Of the total 373 complaints received in September and October, 35 were related to stress and depression, which were addressed by professional counsellors, ASP Chandrasheel Thakur told PTI. Other complain

"Intense competition" and "pressure" of parents on their wards preparing for competitive exams are the main reasons for the rising number of suicides across the country, the Supreme Court said on Monday. Hearing a plea that sought regulation of the mushrooming coaching institutes and cited the data on student suicides, a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, however, expressed helplessness and said the judiciary cannot pass directions in such a scenario. "These are not easy things. Pressure from parents is behind all these incidents. More than the children, it is the parents who are putting pressure on them. How can the court pass directions in such a scenario," the bench told advocate Mohini Priya, appearing for the petitioner - Mumbai-based doctor Aniruddha Narayan Malpani. Justice Khanna said, "Although, most of us will not want any coaching institute to be there, but look at the conditions of schools. There is intense competition and students have no other option but t

Wardens and staff members of hostels in Kota will be given professional training in mess management, psychological and behavioural counselling, and other aspects of students' care to equip them to battle the rising number of suicides by aspirants in the coaching hub. The move comes in wake of a record number of suicides this year by students preparing for engineering and medical entrance exams. Three hostel associations in Kota -- Chambal Hostel Association, Coral Hostel Association and Kota Hostels Association -- have signed an MoU with the Jai Minesh Tribal University here to design special Hostel Management certificate courses for the wardens and staff. Over 2.5 lakh students move to Kota annually to prepare for competitive exams such as the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for engineering and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical colleges. Kota Hostel Association President Naveen Mittal said there are 3,500 hostels in the coaching hub. This year h

Kota Police received information about the student's death around 10.30 pm on Tuesday from the private hospital where she was taken

A matter of life and death: Psychologists are in demand as the Kota system of rankers and bankers creates more foes than friends. Is there a way out of the pressure cooker?