The Supreme Court on Friday lashed out at Rajasthan government over the alarming surge in student suicides in Kota, a prominent coaching hub, questioning the measures taken by the state to address the crisis and why such incidents are concentrated in Kota alone.
When the court told 14 student suicides have been reported in the city so far this year, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan described it as a “very serious issue” and sought details on the actions taken by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter."What are you doing as a state? Why are these children dying by suicide and only in Kota? Have you not given it a thought as a state?" Justice Pardiwala asked the counsel representing the state. Citing surge in student suicides in the city of Kota , the situation was described as "serious".
The counsel said a special investigation team (SIT) was formed in the state to examine cases of suicides.The top court was hearing a matter over the death of a 22-year-old student studying in IIT, Kharagpur. The student was found hanging in his hostel room on May 4. It was also dealing with another case of a girl, who was a NEET aspirant and was found hanging in her room in Kota where she lived with her parents.The bench learnt that an FIR was lodged in connection with the death of IIT Kharagpur's student.
The top court, however, questioned the four-day delay in the FIR which was registered on May 8."Don't take these things lightly. These are very serious things," the bench said.The bench referred to a March 24 verdict of the top court which took note of recurring cases of student suicides in higher educational institutions and formed a national task force to address the mental health concerns of students and prevent such incidents.
The court was hearing petitions related to the deaths of two students -- one from IIT Kharagpur and the other, a NEET aspirant in Kota. Noting that no FIR had been filed in the case of the aspirant, the Supreme Court expressed strong disapproval, asserting, "You are in contempt of our judgment". Earlier this month, the top court had sought FIR details in connection with the two suicides to confirm whether cases had been registered.
“How many young students have died in Kota so far? Why are these students dying?," the court asked on Friday. The bench also summoned a police official from Kota to appear before it on July 14 to explain why no FIR had been filed in the mentioned case."Why was there a four-day delay in lodging the FIR? These are very serious things. Don’t take this lightly," the top court warned the authorities."We can take a very strict view on the matter maybe even contempt, but we are refraining from saying anything further at this stage," the court affirmed.
The Supreme Court also referred to its March 24 verdict, which took note of recurring cases of student suicides in higher educational institutions and formed a national task force to address the mental health concerns of students and prevent such incidents.
Follow us
