Maharashtra: Teen who ended life at Kota coaching centre was clever, sincere student, say kin

LATUR: A 17-year-old boy from Maharashtra's Latur who ended his life after jumping off the sixth floor of a coaching institute's building in Kota in Rajasthan was a sincere and clever student and had gone there for NEET coaching following in the footsteps of his brother, said his kin and friends on Monday. Avishkar Kasle died at 3:15 pm in Kota's Jawahar Nagar area on Sunday, minutes after taking a mock National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper, police in the north western state had said. He is a resident of Ujana village in Latur's Ahmedpur tehsil, where his father Sambhaji Kalse is the in charge of a Zilla Parishad school in Thodaga village, kin said.

"His mother works in a government department in Kinwat in Nanded district. Avishkar's brother had attended coaching classes in Kota and is now pursuing engineering in Hyderabad. Avishkar was a sincere and clever student and went to Kota following his brother's stint there," kin said. Avishkar had completed his primary and secondary education in Ahmedpur and was preparing for medical entrance exams for the last three years, they said, adding that he was staying in Talwandi area in Kota along with his grandparents. His last rites will held later in the evening in his native Ujana village, some relatives said.

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According to Rajasthan authorities, 22 students preparing for competitive exams in Kota district have ended their lives so far in 2023 -- the highest for any year. Last year, the figure was 15. On Sunday, hours after Avishkar ended his life, Adarsh Raj (18), who was also preparing for a competitive exam, hanged himself in his rented flat in the Kunhadi police station area at around 7 pm, as per Kota police.

Incidentally, on Sunday night, Kota district collector O P Bunkar issued an order asking coaching institutes to stop holding routine tests for the next two months. He said the directions were passed to provide "mental support" to students. As per officials, more than two lakh students move to Kota annually to prepare for competitive exams such as the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for engineering and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical colleges.