Another Tamil Nadu Teen Dies By Suicide After Medical Exam NEET: Police

A 17-year-old girl in Tamil Nadu's Ariyalur district died allegedly by suicide Monday night, a day after taking the Medical Entrance Exam NEET.

This is the second such incident in the state in two days related to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET 2021) for admission to undergraduate medical courses in India.

The teen was worried she would not clear the exam, according to the police.

She had scored 93% in her Class 12 exams.

The incident took place on a day the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a Bill to scrap NEET and grant medical admissions on the basis of marks obtained in Class 12. A high-level committee headed by Justice AK Rajan (Retd) had recommended the scrapping of NEET saying that the exam favours the elite and denies opportunity to the poor, those educated in the vernacular medium and those who cannot afford private tuition to pursue medicine.

On Sunday, a 19-year-old died by suicide hours before the exam, which was postponed because of Covid and was conducted amid calls to defer it again.

The young student - Dhanush - was the son of a farm labourer. He had failed to clear NEET in his last two attempts.

Chief Minister MK Stalin appealed to students not to lose hope and assured that his government would push legislation against NEET.

Tamil Nadu has long resisted NEET and has demanded that the state be allowed to organise its own medical entrance exams.

Tamil Nadu had abolished NEET exams for nearly a decade, saying it favours the wealthy as poor students and those in rural areas are unable to afford private coaching. Over the last few years, 16 medical aspirants have died by suicide in the state.