23 suicides this year, 111 in nine years: Inside the pressure cooker that is Kota

"Go, make a name for yourself," 16-year-old Rahul Kaushik from Behror was told by his lawyer father when he was leaving for Kota, India's competitive coaching town in Rajasthan.

- SHASHIKANT SHARMA

Rahul, who went to Kota along with his sister, is now pursuing MBBS from Jodhpur. His sister Manashvi also cleared NEET and secured a seat for in a medical college in Rajasthan's Sikar. They won the race.

However, Maharashtra's Avishkar Sambhaji Kasle and Bihar's Adarsh Raj could not handle the pressure of the intense grind of coaching institutions and the rat race to finish on top. They became the latest casualty of Kota's high-pressure test-prep business. While Kasle jumped off the sixth floor of his coaching institute, Raj hanged himself from the ceiling fan in his hostel room.

So far in 2023 alone, 23 students aspiring to become engineers and doctors have committed suicide. The number is higher than the previous year when 15 students killed themselves. According to Rajasthan police data, 18 students died by suicide in 2019, 20 in 2018, seven in 2017, 17 in 2016, and 18 in 2015. No student suicide was reported in Kota in 2020 and 2021 as the coaching institutes were shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.