September 10th is marked as Suicide Prevention Day to raise awareness about the mental health issues which led many to end their lives. The rising number of suicides amongst Indian students in the last 5 years has been an alarming issue for parents, teachers and government. As per the central government data, there has been a significant rise in these years. A statement by the Minister of State (MoS) for Education, Subhas Sarkar in the Parliament revealed that at least 20 cases of students who were studying in central educational institutions died by suicide in 2018, which decreased to 19 in 2019, 7 in 2020 and 7 in 2021. However, the fatality rate increased to 24 in 2022 and 20 students ended their life due to suicide till July 2023.
According to a report by the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI), More than 13,000 students died in 2021 across the country, which amounts to more than 35 fatalities every day, a rise of 4.5 per cent from the 12,526 deaths in 2020 with 864 out of 10,732 suicides being due to “failure in examination.”
Maharashtra was the leading state in the student deaths by suicide in 2021 with 1,834 deaths, which was followed by Madhya Pradesh with 1,308, and Tamil Nadu with 1,246 deaths.
Suicide cases in IITs and Central Universities
In 2018 and 2019, IITs recorded 8 cases of suicides, which then decreased to 3 and 4 in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The number increased to 9 in 2022, and 7 cases have been recorded this year till the end of July.
In Central Universities 8 cases were registered in 2018, and 2 cases each in 2019 and 2020. For a positive change, there was no case in 2021 but 4 cases were reported in 2022 and 9 cases have been recorded till now in 2023.
These are the latest cases of suicide amongst Indian students
(The dates mentioned are when the incidents were reported)
September 6th, 2023
Two girl students, who attempted suicide by consuming pesticide in Telangana's Nalgonda town, succumbed on Wednesday. The students of Government Degree College for Women, Enugudula Manisha (20) and Danthaboina Shivanai (20) were admitted to the Government General Hospital in Nalgonda, where they succumbed. Both the friends consumed pesticides in the municipal park at Ramnagar on the outskirts of Nalgonda on Tuesday.
September 4th, 2023
A medical aspirant died by hanging himself in his hostel room in Sikar, Rajasthan another emerging coaching city after Kota. The student identified as Kausahal Kumar was preparing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test or NEET medical exam.
August 30th, 2023
A 15-year-old, class 10 student in Bengaluru died by suicide after returning home from school. According to the police, she jumped from the 12th floor of her apartment building in the city’s Bellandur locality.
August 22nd, 2023
An Indian student from Ahmedabad who had been pursuing his studies in the UK on a student visa since the last nine months, was found dead near the London Bridge area, with authorities suspecting suicide as circumstances surrounding his death remain suspicious.
August 27th, 2023
Two students in their teens preparing for NEET (for admissions into medical colleges) died by suicides in Kota within a span of 6 hours on August 26th. The first deceased was a 16-year-old boy from Maharashtra, who jumped off the sixth floor of his coaching institute. After that an 18-year-old male student from Bihar was found having hanged himself by the ceiling fan in his room.
Rising Suicide amongst NEET/JEE aspirants in Kota
In the year 2023, 22 students have ended their life by suicides in the coaching city of the country, Kota. Last year, 15 students had ended their life in the city full of JEE and NEET aspirants.
As per the reports, every year over 2.5 lakh students move to Kota for the preparation of competitive exams like Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) with a dream to secure a seat in the topmost institutes in the country. The students in these coaching centres are in their teens and sometimes the pressure of exams, expectations and competition result to take such harsh step.
Suicide Prevention Helpline no. | AASRA
