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'I'm sorry, I love you all': Another NEET aspirant in TN commits suicide, second one to die in a week!

By alagu, 12 September, 2020
India, Tamilnadu, Chennai, NEET, Injustices

In what has become another shocking incident that divulged how the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) has been surfacing a fear and anxiety among the students, a 19-year-old student from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, who was preparing for the entrance exam, had committed suicide in her home on Saturday, exactly one day ahead of the exam. 

Her demise is the second one within a week that was linked to the national entrance test. According to reports, 19-year-old medical aspirant Jothi Sri Durga was attending coaching classes and preparing for her second NEET attempt, as for the first time, she only managed to score 100 marks As the National Testing Agency and the Supreme Court had pressed that there would be no postponement for the exam, she had been studying hard and she was seen preparing for exams on Friday night before she had gone to sleep. 

On Saturday morning, the family members knocked the door of her room, but there was no response following which they broke the door and to their shock, she was found dead following which the local police had started the investigation. The girl's father, Murugasundaram, is a sub-inspector of police attached to the 6th battalion police, and the probe into her death has been carried out by the team led by Tallakulam police inspector. 

The police had recovered her suicide note in which she had written that she would disappoint her family members and others if she failed to get a medical seat. Apart from the suicide note, she also had left a video recording on her phone, which is also been investigated by the police. 

In her suicide note, she has written that she has taken the extreme step with the fear that she won't be able to fulfill the expectations fo her family if she fails in the national entrance test. She said, "Everyone had kept more expectations on me. I'm sorry. All your hard work for me will go in vain if I didn't get a medical seat. I'm sorry. I'm tired". "To everyone, it is not your fault. Don't blame yourself and anyone. Please forgive me, I love you all", she further penned. 

The reports further stated that her body was recovered and handed over to her family after performing an autopsy. She has become the second student in Tamil Nadu to commit suicide within a week due to the NEET nightmare, that still haunts the students. On September 9, 17-year-old medical aspirant Vignesh from Ariyalur district in the state had committed suicide by jumping into the well in his neighborhood. 

Vignesh had attempted NEET twice earlier. He had got a seat in agricultural sciences and he was preparing for this year's NEET with the hope of getting a seat in the medical college. However, he was under deep stress and he had committed suicide hours after the Supreme Court rejected all the petitions that sought to defer the NEET examination, which has been scheduled on September 13. 

The back to back deaths of aspirants had triggered immense outrage in the state as the political parties and activists have been staunchly demanding the government to repeal the NEET, that has been going against the dreams of the students and is unfair towards students coming from rural areas and from working-class families. 

NEET has been one of the fiercely debating subjects in Tamil Nadu since the demise of Anitha, who died after her hope was busted by the sudden and handicapped implementation of NEET. The political parties have been urging the Center to revoke NEET, which poses an injustice and become a menace for most of the students. The shocking development of the suicide of Jothi Sri Durga had come days after the nation had witnessed an outcry and protest from the students to defer the NEET exam owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

After the demise of the 19-year-old aspirant made headlines, the political leaders of the state had batted a scathing attack against the government and imposition with the demand of repealing the national entrance test. With the call to ban NEET and save the Tamil Nadu students, DMK President MK Stalin said that it's shocking to learn the suicide of Jothi Sri Durga who died due to fear of NEET.

 

Stalin stated, "From the demise of Anitha to Jothi Sri Durga, it can be felt that NEET has been stumbling the students. By citing that suicide is not a solution, Stalin further stated that NEET is not even an exam. DMK leader Kanimozhi said, "The deaths that happen due to NEET are not suicides, but these are homicides by the Central and state governments. The suicides of students are becoming a sequel". 

 

Kanimozhi further questioned, "How many more lives that we are going to lose?". AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran, MDMK Chief Vaiko, and reputed lyricist Vairamuthu had pressed their call to ban NEET. In his tweet, Vairamuthu said, "Injustices have to be destroyed, not lives. NEET exam is a social injustice. Let's destroy that first". Amid the developments, the state government had maintained that it's position on NEET is to repeal the national entrance exam. Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Sengottaiyan had claimed that the government wants NEET to be revoked. 

Following the autopsy, the body of the deceased aspirant has been cremated in her native district while around 1,17,502 students in Tamil Nadu would be writing the NEET exam on September 13 across 14 centers in the state. 

 

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