A 22-year-old student who was preparing for the National Eligibility Entrance Examination (NEET) for admission to undergraduate medical courses was found dead in Rajasthan’s Sikar on Monday, the second such case in the city in a month.
The student from Jhunjhunu was scheduled to appear for the retake of the NEET exam on June 21, which will be his third attempt, police said.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has rescheduled the exam for June 21 after canceling NEET (Undergraduate) 2026 on May 12, nine days after 2.27 million students took the exam in 551 cities. The move came after central agencies confirmed that the question paper had been hacked. Questions were available on some phones as early as May 1, two days before the exam. This was the second time in two years that NEET-UG had come under scrutiny, prompting the NTA to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Rajesh Kumar Budhania, a Rajasthan police officer, said the 22-year-old student was found dead in a rented apartment in Sikar. The student’s father, who works in Mumbai, had rented the accommodation to support his children’s education.
The student returned to Sikar on Monday morning after dropping his mother to their native village, police said. His sister and brother found him hanged when they returned home.
Police found a note that allegedly said: “I’m going away. I don’t know where I’m going. Sorry!” They suspect that the student was under mental stress related to preparation for the third NEET attempt.
Another 22-year-old youth who was preparing for a third attempt for NEET had allegedly died by suicide earlier in Sikar. He was reportedly performing well in his preparations. His family said he felt deep sadness after the exam was canceled on May 12.
