A shocking tragedy has once again brought to light the mental health crisis waiting behind India’s most competitive exam culture. A 19-year-old scholar from Maharashtra, who had achieved a 99.99 percentile in NEET-UG 2025 and an All-India Rank of 1,475 (OBC category), pass away by suicide just hours before he was about to join MBBS at AIIMS Gorakhpur.
What the reports say: Who was he, and what did he leave behind?
- The student has been recognized by various sources as Anurag (Anurag Anil Borkar), living in Nawargaon, Sindewahi taluka in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra.
- He was found hanging in his room by family members early in the morning, before he was about to depart for Gorakhpur for admission procedures.
- A suicide note recovered from his room reportedly expressed his unwillingness to pursue medicine. It is said to have included lines like:
“I don’t want to do MBBS. A businessman earns as much as a doctor. I don’t want to go through five years of study and then an MD.”
- The local police confirmed recovery of the note; authorities say that the contents point to his psychological distress and reluctance to continue the medical path.
- It is also known that Anurag had attempted NEET more than once. He had cleared it earlier as well but apparently sought to improve his rank or get a more preferred college.
- Reports suggest he came from a family that valued academics: his sister was reportedly a district topper in Class 12 the previous year.
- The investigation is continuing. Police are searching whether external pressures—familial, social, academic—played a role in pushing him to this extreme.
Broader context: What this tragedy reflects
This horrifying loss is not an isolated incident in India’s education ecosystem. It underscores systemic stressors and the neglect of student mental health. Some key observations:
- Pressure of societal potentials: In many Indian families, achieving top marks and incoming coveted professions (medicine, engineering) is seen as the hallmark of success. Students often feel they are living someone else’s dreams.
- Mismatch between external success and personal will: That Anurag achieved extraordinarily high scores yet expressed a strong desire not to pursue MBBS suggests a dissonance between societal expectations and personal choice.
- Neglected mental health provision: Many students do not have access to satisfactory psychological counselling or emotional channels, especially in rural or semi-urban areas.
- Repeated stressing of performance: The fact that Anurag took NEET more than once shows the intense pressure to improve one’s rank or get into a preferred institution, even after already “clearing” the exam.
- Precedent of similar suicides: This is part of a pattern of suicides connected to academic pressure and gateway exams in India. Previous cases have involved NEET aspirants, coaching stress, and despair at failure or “roadblocks” in admission.
Why this case is especially poignant
- He had arguably “made it” — 99.99 percentile is extremely notable, and a seat at AIIMS Gorakhpur is a dream for many.
- Yet, he did not want the path laid before him. The tragedy lies in the collision between external achievement and internal conflict.
- The timing is gut-wrenching: right before he was to step into the next phase of life (joining college), he ended his own life.
What can be learned, and what must change
This tragedy demands reflection and action. Some proposals and lessons:
- Stabilize mental health conversations in schools & coaching centres
Psychological support should not be an postscript. Regular counselling, peer support groups, and stress management workshops must be part of academic coaching curricula. - Respect and nurture student’s help and choice
Even if a student is academically bright, he or she should not be forced into a specific professional trajectory against their will. Career counseling should emphasize alternatives, passions, and personal fit—not just prestige. - Early risk discovery and interference
Teachers, parents, and nobles must be briefed to warning signs—withdrawal, hopelessness, repeated talk of giving up—and there should be safe, reachable help channels. Rural and small-town regions especially lack mental health infrastructure. - Reduce stigma
Many students resist asking for help due to shame or fear. Societal narratives must shift: seeking counseling is not weakness; it is strength. - Policy support & institutional responsibility
Education boards, the National Testing Agency, state governments, and medical colleges should enforce mandatory mental health protocols. Institutions should have counselors, helplines, and intervention teams. - Parental education
Parents must be educated not just about academic support but emotional support. The mindset “top scores equal success” needs reconsideration.
call to remember and understand: This was a human being, firstCIn the rush of numbers, ranks, and exams, we sometimes lose sight of the individual. Anurag was more than a percentile score; he was a young person with dreams, conflicts, feelings. His death is a tragic reminder that external excellence cannot mask internal suffering.
May this prompt urgent reforms, empathy, and care—so no other student feels that death is the only way out.