A protest seeking justice for IIT-B student Sahil Wakode
Mumbai: IIT-Bombay student Sahil Wakode’s death has renewed questions about how educational institutions respond to student distress and highlighted a troubling national trend: while India’s suicide rate marginally declined from 12.3 to 12.2 per lakh population, student suicides rose from 13,891 in 2023 to 14,448 in 2024. For instance, among those below 18, exam failure accounted for 9.6% of suicides in 2024, compared with family problems (27.7%), illness (12%), love affairs (14.9%) and other causes (17.7%). In the 18-29 age group, it accounted for just 1.6% of suicides; family problems (33.2%), illness (12.8%) and love affairs (8.9%) were more prominent.
experts cautioned against such a narrow focus While it is easy to blame “exam pressure”. “Reducing student suicide to ‘exam stress’ risks obscuring the complexity of vulnerability and may inadvertently limit the scope of prevention strategies,” the researchers wrote. The emphasis must be on repair and reform, not on punishing or breaking a child,” he said, advocating counselling and proportionate, compassionate corrective action.
In a recent commentary in The Lancet Regional Health—Southeast Asia, researchers cited National Crime Records Bureau data to underline that exam-related stress isn’t the main cause of suicide among students. Shetty also called for a shift from a moral compass to a mental health compass in dealing with student misconduct. “Humiliating students or their parents can aggravate distress and trigger further conflict at home.