Latur: Teen who ended life at Kota coaching institute after mock NEET exam was clever, say kin

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.

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. His last rites will held later in the evening in his native Ujana village, some relatives said.

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.