Young medical girl aspirant ends life over NEET, PMK seeks cancellation of exams

Chennai: In a tragic incident, a young medical girl aspirant allegedly committed suicide fearing that she could not clear the NEET exams to get admission to UG MBBS courses in Tamil Nadu on Sunday, even as the PMK demanded that the exams should be cancelled due to rising deaths over such exams in the State.

Reports received here said, the young girl, Indu, hailing from Dadapuram village near Tindivanam in Villupuram district, committed suicide by hanging herself at her home due to fear of failing in the NEET exams scheduled in May.

In her bid to become a doctor, she took the exams last year but could not get an admission despite scoring 350 marks.

She has been preparing to clear it this time, when the fear on her forced her to take the extreme step, the reports said.

Meanwhile, PMK President and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Anbumani Ramadoss condoled her death and urged the Centre to immediately withdraw the exams which had claimed almost 50 lives in the State.

"I was deeply shocked and saddened to hear the news that a student named Indu from Dadapuram village near Tindivanam in Villupuram district committed suicide by hanging herself at her home due to fear of failing in the NEET exam", he said in a statement.

Expressing his deepest condolences and sympathies to her grieving family, Dr Anbumani, also a former Union Health Minister, said she wrote the NEET exam last year, but could not get into a medical college despite scoring 350 marks.

"She was studying hard to get into medical course at least this year and was trying her best to apply for the NEET exam to be held in May, but she allegedly committed suicide fearing that she might not get success this year too", he said.

Pointing out that she had studied in a Hindu government school and scored high marks in the 12th class public examination, he said, she, however, could not score the same marks in the NEET examination.

Reiteraring that the PMK has been continuously insisting that the NEET examination should be cancelled because it is an obstacle to the medical education dream of rural boys and girls, who wanted to pursue MBBS courses, he said the central government has been refusing to do so.

Noting that nearly 50 people have died in Tamil Nadu since the NEET exam was introduced in 2017, Dr Anbumani said those who came to power in Tamil Nadu (referring to the ruling DMK) had promised to cancel the NEET exam the next day if we come to power.

But they have not cancelled iot till date, he said and claimed that they are the ones who screated false hope among the students and should be held responsible for the suicide of student Indu.

The central government should learn from the statistics of the last 8 years that the NEET exam has not helped in any way to improve the quality of medical education or prevent the commercialization of medical education, he said.

"Realizing the reality, the NEET exam should be cancelled", he stressed.

The DMK, which came to power by deceiving the people on the NEET exam issue, should take steps to cancel the exam to fulfill its poll promise, Dr Anbumani said appealed to the state government to provide a compensation of Rs. 25 lakhs to the family of Indu.