The NEET exam was conducted on Sunday.
A student taking the NEET medical entrance exam in Kerala on Sunday was allegedly forced to take off her bra before writing the exam as the metal hooks beeped during a security check. The shocking incident surfaced after the girl's father filed a police complaint.
At the NEET (National Eligibility Entrance Test) centre in Kollam district, the girl was allegedly told by female security personnel that she must remove her bra because of the "metallic hook". When she resisted, she was told she would not be allowed to take the medical admission exam.
"Is your future or innerwear big for you? Just remove it and don't waste our time," the girl was told, according to her father's complaint to the police.
The Marthoma Institute of Information Technology, where the incident took place, has denied any responsibility. The Kollam police chief KB Ravi confirmed that the girl's parents have filed a complaint. They have also alleged that several girls were forced to remove their underwear, and these were lying discarded in a storeroom.
"After a security check, my daughter was told that the hook of the innerwear was detected by the metal detector, so she was asked to remove it. Almost 90% of female students had to remove their inners and keep them in a storeroom. The candidates were mentally disturbed while writing the exam," said the girl's father.
In his letter to the police, he said his daughter had seen a "roomful of innerwear that was taken" and many girls were crying and felt "mentally tortured".
Many students, he wrote, were "cutting their hooks" and tying them up. "The mental state of these children was disturbed ad they could not attend the exam comfortably (sic),"
For tens of thousands of medical aspirants, clearing the NEET security check is a huge challenge. Candidates are asked not to carry stationary and follow a strict dress code, in which wallets, handbags, belts, caps, jewellery, shoes and heels are banned.
The Kollam incident appears to be an example of the restrictions taken too far, to egregious levels.
