‘Shocked & clueless’: Kin of students who died by suicide in Kota

A student living as a paying guest in the building said: “When we knocked at the door of his room, he didn’t answer. We called up the landlord and later it was discovered that he was hanging from the ceiling fan in his room. As we sat in the ambulance to take his body to a hospital, the sister of another student, Ujjwal Kumar, approached us and we found that even his room was locked from inside.”

The 16-year-old student, a resident of Supaul in Bihar, and 18-year-old Ujjwal from Gaya were found hanging from the ceiling fans in their rooms on the second floor of the building. Though the police have termed the two deaths as suicide, no suicide note has been recovered from the spot.

Even as the death of these two students rocked Talwandi locality, another 17-year-old student from Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh, who was preparing for NEET, was also found dead inside his room in Kunadi area of the city. The police said preliminary inquiry indicates that he was under stress due to studies and died by suicide after consuming zinc phosphide.

Sub-inspector Prakash Chand of the Jawahar Nagar police station in Talwandi on Tuesday told The Indian Express: “We had received information about a student’s death around 12.30 pm on Monday. As we took his body in custody, the sister of another student requested us to find out the whereabouts of her brother, who was not taking calls. We found that he, too, was hanging from the ceiling fan in another room of the building.”

At the MBS Hospital in Kota, the brother-in-law of the 16-year-old student wore a look of disbelief as he completed formalities at the mortuary for the post-mortem. “He spoke to his mother even yesterday. The family would call him up daily. He was staying in Kota since he was in Class 8 and was currently a student of Class 11. He was also preparing for NEET. We can’t think of anything that may have led him to take the extreme step,” he said.

Ujjwal’s family says he had shifted from Gaya to Kota seven months ago to prepare for JEE.

“We are clueless as to why he took the extreme step. Ujjwal’s parents have never pressured him for studies. They spoke with him everyday,” said Ujjwal’s cousin Ram Krishan, who had come to Kota on Tuesday.

Families of both the students said though the kids stayed in the same building, they were not close friends.

The Kota police said there have been multiple suicides this year, after a two-year gap due to pandemic when most coaching students had left the city. “We are yet to ascertain the reasons for suicides. Investigation is underway,” said Kota city SP Keshar Singh Shekhawat.