Hyderabad 19-year-old kills himself after failing to clear JEE-Mains

At 9 pm on Monday, results for the entrance exam to IITs and other engineering colleges in India – the Joint Entrance Examination-Mains – were announced. Nineteen-year-old Sahil, who had been preparing for a year, did not clear the competitive exam. Upset, he did not tell his parents about the results. But when everyone was asleep, around 1 am in the night, Sahil used his father’s licensed gun to kill himself.

Sahil’s parents woke up to the sound of a gunshot, and found their son dead in the next room. His father Meheruddin is an ex-army man working as a security guard. Following the death, the Rachakonda police have confiscated the gun and Meheruddin’s gun licence.

Neredmet police have registered a case under Section 174 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC ) for unnatural death. "The exam result was out yesterday and he did not speak about it to his parents. We are suspecting he shot himself, as he failed to clear the entrance exam. No suicide note was found there," said Narsimha Swamy, the inspector investigating the case.

The youngest of Meheruddin’s three sons, Sahil aspired to be a software engineer and had been studying to secure an engineering seat. He had completed his intermediate exam in 2018, but took a sabbatical of one year and re-appeared for intermediate exams again this year to improve his percentage. He had been attending a private coaching centre near his home for the past one year.

The teen had also kept his parents in the dark about the results from his second intermediate exam attempt. “He did not tell us anything about any of the results. We never put pressure on him, always told him that if this does not work out, he can try something else,” said Meheruddin.

“He was a quiet boy, didn't have any friends. He would go to the institute, come back and study. That was his only routine for the past one year,” the father added.

On Monday night, Sahil asked for his 5-year-old cousin who stays with the family to sleep in his parents’ room instead of his. He wanted to go for a stroll on the terrace, his mother Sarojbala said. “This was unusual but at the time I didn't think much of it,” said Sarojbala.

Neighbours who woke up hearing Sarojbala’s call for help tried calling an ambulance, “The police came in ten minutes but the ambulance came an hour late, no one was ready to come,” said Nandagopal, Meheruddin’s neighbour. “The boy was an introvert. From my home, I could see him most days on the terrace, preparing for the exams. He was always studying,” he added.