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Accident – Death – Obituary News :
Published By: Sukanya Nandy
Last Updated: February 21, 2024, 08:57 IST
(Representative image/News18)
The boy was last seen in CCTV footage hiring a taxi and reaching the Garadiya Mahadev temple forest. He was seen entering the forest
The body of a 16-year-old JEE aspirant, who left his hostel for a routine test on February 11 and went missing, was found on Monday night stuck between two trees on a rock in a forest area in Rajasthan’s Kota, police said. The boy was last spotted in CCTV footage near the Garadiya Mahadev temple forest on February 11, they added.
Police said it was a case of suicide, which takes the number of such incidents of students of various coaching centres taking the extreme step to four this year in Kota. Besides, two B.Tech students from different universities committed suicide earlier this month.
Kota is known for a number of coaching centres preparing students for competitive exams. Meanwhile, a 17-year-old Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) aspirant has been missing from a Kota hostel room for a week now and an intensive search operation is underway to trace him.
The body of the JEE aspirant, identified as Rachit Sondhya (16), a resident of Rajgarh district in Madhya Pradesh, was found from the forest near the Garadiya Mahadev temple late on Monday evening, Superintendent of Police (Kota City) Amrita Duhan told reporters. Sondhya was preparing for the IIT-JEE.
The post-mortem examination was conducted on Monday night after obtaining the district collector’s permission and the body handed over to the deceased’s family members, the SP said. One more JEE aspirant, Piyush Kapasia (17), is still missing and specials teams have been formed to trace him, the officer added.
It is a case of suspected suicide and police have lodged a case under section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for investigation, Circle Inspector at the Jawahar Nagar police station Vasudev Singh said. Sondhya left his hostel room in Mahaveer Nagar-1, located within the Jawahar Nagar police station limits, for a routine test at around noon on February 11.
He was last seen in CCTV footage hiring a taxi and reaching the Garadiya Mahadev temple forest. He was seen entering the forest. The bag, mobile phone, a power bank, the room keys and some other belongings of the boy were found at a distance of around 200 metres from the temple on February 12.
Around 60-70 police personnel, besides the members of the Kota Municipal Corporation squad and 40-50 family members of the deceased, eventually spotted the body stuck between two trees on a rock at a distance of around a kilometre and a half from the spot where the boy’s belongings were found, police said. Kapasia, who hails from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, left his hostel room for a test on February 13. He neither returned to his room nor responded to his parents’ phone calls, following which his family members arrived in Kota and got a missing report lodged at the Jawahar Nagar police station.
According to the family members, the 17-year-old boy has been preparing for the IIT-JEE in Kota for two years. He took the recent JEE-Mains exam and scored only 13 percentile. The boy was last seen in CCTV footage at the Kota railway station with a bag in his hand, police said.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
**Tragic Incident in Kota Forest: JEE Aspirant Found Dead**
A 16-year-old JEE aspirant, Rachit Sondhya, from Rajgarh district in Madhya Pradesh, was found dead in a forest area near the Garadiya Mahadev temple in Kota, Rajasthan. The boy had gone missing after leaving his hostel for a routine test on February 11.
The police discovered his body stuck between two trees on a rock on Monday night, confirming it as a case of suicide. This unfortunate incident adds to the growing number of student suicides in Kota, with four such cases reported this year alone.
Kota, known for its coaching centres preparing students for competitive exams, has been shaken by the news. Another 17-year-old JEE aspirant, Piyush Kapasia, is still missing, prompting intensive search efforts to locate him.
The post-mortem examination of Rachit Sondhya’s body was conducted, and it was handed over to his family. Meanwhile, special teams have been mobilized to find Kapasia. The police have initiated an investigation under section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Sondhya was last seen in CCTV footage entering the Garadiya Mahadev temple forest after hiring a taxi. His belongings were found near the temple the next day. The discovery of his body between trees shocked the police, who had been searching for him with the help of municipal corporation squads and family members.
The tragic turn of events has left the community in mourning, raising concerns about the mental health and well-being of students under academic pressure. As the search continues for Kapasia, the focus remains on providing support to students in distress.
If you or someone you know needs help, do not hesitate to reach out to the helplines mentioned above. Let us come together to prevent such heartbreaking incidents and support those in need..