16-yr-old kills self, 10th case in Kota since Jan

A 16-year-old boy became the latest victim of serial suicides in the city that is recognised as the national hub for coaching in professional exams. The deceased Rahul Kumar Mandal was preparing to crack the entrance exam (NEET) for admission in medical colleges at a prime coaching institute in Kota. His body was recovered hanging from the iron angle on which the water geezer was stationed at the hostel bathroom on Friday. 

The hostel is in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar and falls under the Jawahar Nagar police station of the city. No suicide note was recovered from the hostel room but prima facie, it is believed that home sickness drove the student to commit suicide as he had reached Kota for coaching only a month ago, police said. Police have placed the body for the postmortem to be carried out after the arrival of his parents and has initiated investigation into the matter by lodging a case under section 174 of CrPC. 

Rahul Kumar Mandal, sixteen, was a resident of Madhepura district in Bihar, circle in charge (C.I.) at Jawahar Nagar police station, Neeraj Gupta said. 

The deceased boy was undergoing coaching to crack NEET at a coaching institute of the city. He had enrolled in the institute only a month ago on April 19. The body was found hanging in the bathroom by hostel staff. Police believe that the victim is most likely to have committed suicide either late on Thursday evening or early on Friday morning but the hostel caretaker could come to know of the incident only yesterday evening. 

The exact reason behind the suicide is yet to be ascertained as no suicide note was recovered from his hostel room, Gupta said. The victim’s body has been shifted to the mortuary of Maharao Bhim Singh hospital for the postmortem. This is the tenth suicide by a coaching student enrolled in Kota since January this year.