KOTA: An 18-year-old engineering aspirant, who was to appear for the JEE-Main on April 2, allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train in Kota, police said on Monday.This is the tenth case of suspected suicide by a coaching student in Kota since January.Kanpur native Ujjawal Mishra was supposed to leave for Lucknow where he was allotted a centre to sit for the engineering entrance exam, Deputy Superintendent of Police (GRP-Kota) Shankar Lal.His father, Deepak Kumar Mishra, was to reach Kota on Monday to take him and his belongings back to UP, the police said.Ujjawal had been preparing for JEE at a coaching institute here and lived in a hostel in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar area, they said.On Sunday, the boy left his hostel room around 6.30 pm and reached Kota Railway Station, the DSP said.According to the train pilot, when the boy saw the train approaching, he laid down on the tracks and got run over around 7 pm.The pilot, who immediately informed the Government Railway Police about the incident, said he was unable to stop the train on time due to high speed.No suicide note was recovered from the boy’s possession.Ujjawal was an average student. He never shared that he was in trouble nor did he exhibit any sign of distress, said the grief-stricken father outside the mortuary after claiming his son’s body.The DSP said on Sunday evening Ujjawal reportedly spoke to his classmate, who lives in a hostel opposite to his, and shared that he was not well prepared to crack the April 2 exam.Ujjawal’s father, an agricultural scientist, said that his son had been taking coaching for JEE-Mains and Advance at a coaching institute in Kota for the past two years.The engineering aspirant’s mother and younger brother live in Lucknow. The body was handed over to the father after a post-mortem on Monday noon, the police said, adding that a case has been registered in the matter.This is the tenth student suicide this year that took place in the city famous for being a coaching hub. Six coaching students — five JEE, one NEET — killed themselves in January alone.On March 25, 17-year-old medical aspirant from Bihar Harshraj Shankar allegedly hanged himself from an iron rod he had installed in his hostel room to exercise pull-ups. While the police found no suicide note from the spot, “Sorry” was found written on the book shelf rack.Seventeen coaching students died by suicide in Kota in 2024. In 2023, the number stood at 26.(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation – 04424640050, Tele Manas – 14416 (available 24×7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ helpline – 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)
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