Kota suicide, with video for brother

Rakhee Roy Talukdar, TT, Jaipur, Oct. 14: A 16-year-old aspiring doctor from Bihar killed himself yesterday by jumping into the river Chambal in Kota, raising this year's suicide count in the coaching hub to 14.

Aman Gupta of Radhopur left behind an emotional video clip for his younger brother, asking him to fulfil their father's dreams, which has gone viral.

The Class XI student and son of a schoolteacher had arrived in Kota about six months ago and was preparing at the Allen Coaching Institute for the all-India medical entrance exam.

"Before committing suicide, he rang up his friends and his roommate and said, 'I'm going to end my life. Please take care of my belongings and cellphone'," Kota superintendent of police S.S. Godara said.

"He shot a 10-minute video asking his parents to forgive him and urging his younger brother to fulfil their father's dreams. He is heard saying, 'Papa always supported me but I brought shame to him in Class X and a complaint was even made to the school principal'."

It's not clear what "shame" Aman was referring to.

Naveen Maheshwari, owner of Allen, described Aman as "quite a good student".

"He ranked 23 among 1,000. He scored 73 per cent in his last exam (at the institute), which is quite good for the medical entrance. He was popular among friends. Only his parents can say what went on in his mind," Maheshwari said.

"Those who commit suicide are usually lonely souls. But this boy was the opposite. In the video, he doesn't talk about his present studies."

Maheshwari said that Allen had about 20 clinical psychologists to whom "we refer those students for counselling who we feel cannot cope with the stress or want to remain alone".

He suggested that parents and the education system often put students under stress.

"Now, till Class X, the principle is not to stress the students but from Class XI, the parents say they must crack the competitive exams. How do you expect adolescents to cope with such pressure?"

Some 30 student suicides were reported last year in Kota, where 1.5 lakh schoolchildren enrol in coaching institutes every year with the dream of making it to India's premier engineering colleges or medical schools. Only a fourth do.

Counsellors have cited several possible reasons for these stress-driven suicides: an oppressive study schedule, the pressure to maintain one's scores at the coaching institutes while competing against toppers from across the country, the stress of living alone and, sometimes, untimely love affairs.

Kota collector Ravi Kumar Surpur said the district administration and the coaching institutes had taken several de-stressing measures to check the suicides, but there were many individual factors at play.

"We can't delve into the nuances of each one's family matters. It's difficult to judge what is in the mind of the student," he said. "We have to reinvent the ways of counselling the students."