17-year-old JEE aspirant from UP found hanging in hostel room

Sixth Student Suicide in Kota This Year

Kota: A 17-year-old aspirant from Uttar Pradesh, preparing in Kota for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), was found hanging in his hostel room in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar under Jawahar Nagar police station late Wednesday night.

Since the ceiling fan in the hostel room was equipped with an anti-hanging device, the teen chose to end his life by hanging from an angle in the hostel room, police said. Terming it a suicide, police said the reason behind the extreme step was yet to be ascertained as no suicide note was recovered from his room.

The deceased was identified as Aryan Ojha, 17, a resident of Sant Kabir Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, who was preparing for JEE in a coaching institute in Kota for one year and was living in a hostel room in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar. It marks the sixth death by suicide of a coaching student in Kota since Jan this year.

The teen’s family members, who reached to claim the body after post-mortem Thursday afternoon, avoided speaking to the media and did not level any allegation in the report to the police. Police registered a case and began an investigation.

“The teen did not attend coaching classes Wednesday and did not come out of the room till late night, nor respond to calls, following which other students in the hostel broke the door open and found him hanging,” Circle Inspector at Jawahar Nagar police station Ramlaxman told TOI.

“They informed the police about the incident around 10.45pm Wednesday and rushed the teen to hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead,” he added. “No suicide note was recovered from the room, and the reason behind the tragedy was yet to be ascertained through investigation,” he added.

As per the direction by the Supreme Court, the police registered a case under the relevant section for investigation and handed over the body to family members after post-mortem, the police officer said. “The family members did not point out the reason behind the incident, nor did they level any allegation in the report to the police,” he further said.