(Trigger Warning: Descriptions of suicide. If you feel suicidal or know someone in distress, please reach out to them with kindness and call these numbers of local emergency services, helplines, and mental health NGOs.)
A 16-year-old girl died by suicide in Kota on the night of Tuesday, 12 September. With this, the death toll of student suicides in Kota for 2023 reaches 24, the highest in at last eight years.
The girl, hailing from Jharkhand’s Ranchi, had moved to Kota in May this year to prepare for the National Eligibility and Entrance Test for medical colleges. She was studying at Allen Career Institute.
Speaking to FIT, Devesh Bhardwaj, SHO of Kota’s Vigyan Nagar Police Station, said that a case has been filed under Section 174 (police to enquire and report on suicide) of the CrPC.
He added that the investigation is underway and no suicide letter has been found yet, Bhardwaj told FIT, “The girl’s parents are on their way to Kota. We will conduct the postmortem and search the girl’s room after they reach.”
‘Roommate Found Her Body'
Bhardwaj said that the girl used to live in a twin-sharing room at Bliss Hostel. On Tuesday night, she purportedly asked her roommate to get her a glass of water. Her roommate did so and went to speak with her mother on call.
“When the roommate returned after 25 minutes, she saw the victim,” Bhardwaj told FIT.
The roommate called other students and the hostel warden, following which the 16-year-old was rushed to a private hospital where she was declared dead.
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