IIT aspirant from Bihar hangs self in Kota hostel room, third suicide since Saturday
Kota (Raj), Dec 26 : A 17-year-old IIT aspirant from Bihar was found hanging in his hostel room in Rajasthan's Kota, the third suicide of a student since Saturday, police said.
Jitesh Gupta of Bihar's Siwan district was on Tuesday found hanging from the ceiling fan of his hostel room in Kota's Mahavir Nagar-II area, sub-inspector Ramswroop said Wednesday.
Jitesh, who has completed his schooling, was in Kota for the last three years to prepare for IIT-JEE, the entrance test for Indian Institute of Technology (IITs). He was a student of a premier coaching centre here, he added.
Jitesh did not take calls from his parents Tuesday morning, following which they informed his friends. When his friends went to his room they found it locked from inside and after peeping through the window they found Jitesh hanging from the ceiling fan, police said.
Officials of Mahavir Nagar police station soon reached the hostel and sent the body to a mortuary, where it was kept for post-mortem examination which would be done after Jitesh's family reach Kota.
The reason behind the suicide was yet to be ascertained as no suicide note was found, police said.
Jitesh last spoke to his family Monday evening and had told his brother that he was not doing well in studies after recovering from a sickness five months back. His brother had told him that he would soon visit Kota to meet him. However, he took his life that night, police said.
Officials said that a case has been registered and they are investigating the details behind the death.
This is the the third case of suicide of a student in Kota since Saturday.
On Saturday, a 16-year-old IIT aspirant from the state's Bundi district committed suicide. Deepak Dadich of Laxmipura village hanged himself in an upper-storey room of his coaching institute.
On Sunday, Diksha Singh, a 17-year-old aspiring to crack medical entrance test NEET also committed suicide. Diksha was from Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar town. She was found hanging in her hostel room in Adarsh Nagar area.
Thousands of students from across India, especially the northern region, get admitted to private coaching institutes in Kota for preparing for entrance tests of engineering institutes and medical colleges. However, there have been several cases of suicides over the last few year, which is blamed on high levels of stress.
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Mamata visits Bhabanipur EVM strong room, warns against counting irregularities
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee early Friday warned against any attempt to tamper with the counting process, hours after she visited an EVM strong room in Bhabanipur, alleging possible malpractice.
Banerjee, who emerged around 12:07 am after spending nearly four hours at the counting centre for her Bhabanipur constituency housed in Sakhawat Memorial School in south Kolkata, said only one person would be allowed inside the designated counting area.
"Either the candidate or one agent can stay upstairs. I have also suggested installation of a CCTV camera for the media," she told reporters.
Stressing the need for transparency, she said, "It is essential to maintain transparency. People’s votes must be protected. I rushed here after receiving complaints. The central forces initially did not allow me to enter."
Sounding a stern note ahead of the May 4 counting, she added, "If there is any plan to tamper with the counting process, it will not be tolerated."
On Thursday evening, Banerjee had reached the Bhabanipur Assembly segment counting centre, which houses the strong room for EVMs used in the April 29 polling, citing suspicion of tampering with the machines.
She entered the premises along with her election agent and remained inside for hours, even as Kolkata Mayor and TMC candidate from the Kolkata Port segment Firhad Hakim reached the spot but could not meet her.
"I reached here upon learning that the chief minister has arrived. But I couldn’t meet her since she was already inside the premises, exercising her right as a candidate to visit strong rooms. I wasn’t allowed there. I will not be able to confirm what exactly is transpiring inside," Hakim said.
The development coincided with protests by TMC candidates Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in north Kolkata, where they staged a sit-in alleging irregularities and possible tampering of EVMs stored in strong rooms, leading to face-offs between TMC and BJP supporters.
Earlier in a video message, Banerjee had urged party leaders, workers and polling agents to maintain a 24-hour vigil on EVM strong rooms, alleging that the BJP could attempt to tamper with the machines before counting begins.
Her remarks come amid heightened political tension in the state following a fiercely contested Assembly election, with parties closely monitoring arrangements and raising concerns over transparency.
