TWO STUDENT DEATHS ROCK KOTA’S COACHING INDUSTRY AS FAMILY ALLEGATIONS RAISE QUESTIONS OVER HOSTEL SAFETY

October 26, 2026

Two students preparing for highly competitive entrance examinations have died in separate incidents in Kota, Rajasthan, renewing concerns about the safety and welfare of young people living away from their families in the city’s extensive coaching ecosystem. While a 16-year-old Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) aspirant from Madhya Pradesh was found dead in his paying guest accommodation, a 19-year-old National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) aspirant from Bihar died after being found unconscious in his hostel bathroom. The circumstances surrounding both deaths are under investigation, and the family of the older student has alleged negligence by the hostel authorities.

The 16-year-old student, who hailed from Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh, had moved to Kota approximately six months ago to prepare for the JEE. According to police, he was living in a paying guest accommodation in Mahaveer Nagar-I, within the jurisdiction of the Jawahar Nagar police station. On Sunday afternoon, he attended a routine mock test at his coaching institute before returning to his room.

Later that night, the student stopped responding to calls and did not open his door despite repeated attempts by others to contact him. The paying guest accommodation’s operator eventually looked through a window and discovered the teenager hanging inside the room. Police were informed and reached the premises before shifting his body to MBS Hospital. His family was subsequently notified.

Circle Inspector Mukesh Meena said that no suicide note had been recovered from the room and that the reason behind the student’s death had not been established. Police registered a case under the relevant provisions and began an investigation. The post-mortem examination and other investigative procedures were intended to help establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The second case involved Gautam Kumar, a 19-year-old NEET aspirant from Darbhanga district in Bihar, who had been living in Kota for nearly two years. He was staying at a hostel in the Landmark area, under the jurisdiction of the Kunhari police station. According to police, he was found unconscious in the bathroom of his hostel room and was taken to MBS Hospital, where he died during treatment.

Gautam’s family has questioned the circumstances of his death and accused the hostel authorities of failing to respond adequately to his absence. His cousin, Akhilesh, told reporters outside the mortuary that the family had received no satisfactory explanation about what had happened. He questioned whether Gautam had suffered a fall in the bathroom, accidentally consumed a poisonous substance or died under other circumstances. These possibilities remain unconfirmed, and police have said that the cause of death cannot be determined conclusively until the investigation and post-mortem procedures are completed.

The family alleged that hostel authorities failed to notice Gautam’s absence despite the facility serving four meals a day. According to the relatives, the situation came to light after the family contacted another cousin living in a nearby hostel and asked him to check on Gautam. The family also maintained that the student had been doing well academically and was not experiencing study-related stress. They subsequently lodged a complaint alleging negligence by the hostel authorities.

Circle Inspector Devesh Bhardwaj confirmed that police had registered a first information report under the relevant provisions. He said investigators had not yet reached a conclusion about the cause of Gautam’s death and that the findings of the post-mortem examination would be important in determining what had happened. The allegations against the hostel authorities remain allegations and will require examination as part of the investigation.

The two incidents have once again drawn attention to the challenges faced by students who relocate to Kota to prepare for competitive examinations. The city attracts large numbers of young people seeking admission to prestigious engineering and medical institutions. Many live in hostels or paying guest facilities, often hundreds of kilometres from their families, while attending coaching classes and taking regular tests intended to prepare them for demanding entrance examinations.

The deaths also raise questions about the responsibilities of institutions that accommodate and supervise students. Families sending teenagers to another city for education depend on coaching centres, hostel operators and paying guest accommodation providers to maintain reasonable standards of safety, communication and supervision. When a student becomes unreachable or misses a scheduled activity, timely checks and communication with family members can be important. Whether any specific failure contributed to either death, however, must be determined through evidence rather than assumption.

Kota’s coaching culture has faced sustained scrutiny over student welfare, psychological pressure and the adequacy of safeguards in residential facilities. The competitive environment can involve demanding schedules, repeated assessments and uncertainty about future academic opportunities. These broader concerns have prompted calls for institutions and authorities to take student well-being seriously alongside academic performance. Nevertheless, investigators have not established that examination pressure played a role in either of the latest deaths.

For the families of the two students, the immediate priority is to understand the circumstances in which their children died. For the authorities, the task is to establish the facts through a thorough investigation, examine the complaints made by Gautam’s relatives and determine whether any negligence or other wrongdoing occurred. The deaths also underline the importance of clear procedures for monitoring student welfare and responding when young residents cannot be contacted.

As police investigations continue, the two cases have become a painful reminder that the pursuit of educational success must not overshadow the safety and dignity of the students who travel to Kota in the hope of building a better future. Until the investigations establish the causes and circumstances of the deaths, unanswered questions will remain for the families and the wider community