MBBS Student Commits Suicide Over 'Low Attendance', No Suicide Note Found

A Uttar Pradesh MBBS student has committed suicide by hanging himself in his hostel room. The probe is underway and no suicide note was obtained. The deceased, a native of Varanasi, was a 2nd-year MBBS student at a private college.

According to the reports, the medical student was worried that he may not achieve the minimum attendance required to appear in the examination. The incident happened in the Safeabad town hostel room, where the student hanged himself with a ceiling fan.

The roommate of the deceased went to the hostel mess for Dinner and upon returning found the hostel room locked from inside. Upon receiving no response, he informed other students and hostel staff, who broke open the door and found the body of the student hanging with a bed sheet. His roommate Manish Kumar reported to the police that the student was stressed over the low attendance and feared being barred from the upcoming exams.

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Station House Officer, Kotwali police station, Ajay Kumar Tripathi said that an investigation has been launched into the matter to ascertain the reason behind the extreme step taken by the student.

According to the NMC reports, the suicide rate among medical students in India is high. In the last five years, at least 122 medical students committed suicide, including 64 MBBS and 58 post-graduate students. Nearly, 27.8% of undergraduate students reported mental health conditions and 16.2% showed suicidal ideation.

Academic Pressure, exaggerated duty time, inadequate rest, hostile work environment and lack of time-off for PG student contribute to mental health challenges among the medical student. Also many institutes lack proper redressal mechanisms and counselling services to handle mental health issues among medical students.