'What was my fault?': How India's exam paper leak ended young lives

When his family entered his bedroom after his death in the early hours of 18 June, it looked as though he might return at any moment. Text books, notebooks, pens and markers lay scattered across his bed and study table.

He was wearing his headphones when he jumped. In one corner stood his electric guitar, plugged into an amplifier.

What Happened

On the shelves were Harry Potter novels, a book on Elon Musk, a collection of Goosebumps horror novels and board games. There was a trophy for "consistent academic performance".

• After the 2024 paper leak, he took NEET as a practice attempt.

• Some 770km away, in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, another family was trying to understand an equally unimaginable loss.

• To finance that dream, he sold land and borrowed more than a million rupees ($10,480; £7,804) from a bank.

Key Details

Kahaan was one of at least 21 students who died by suicide allegedly upset after this year's National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was cancelled because of a question paper leak, forcing nearly two million candidates to take the examination again. Their.

• In 2022, Pradeep moved to Sikar for coaching, sharing a rented room with his older sister, Babita Kumari who was preparing for police recruitment exams.

• By then, his life was a relentless 16-hour cycle: up at 4.30am, coaching, self-study until 9pm, sleep, and repeat.

• The paper was leaked, the examination was scrapped and a retest ordered – meaning Pradeep would have had to sit NEET for a fourth time.

Why It Matters

After days of protests led by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. But behind the politics were families like Kahaan's – left trying to understand how an examination scandal had become a matter of life and death.

• Then came his third attempt in May this year.

• Two NEET attempts steadily improved his rank, bringing a government medical college within reach.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by BBC as more details emerge