JOIN USTamil Nadu girl dies by suicide, a day after she appeared for NEET
An 18-year-old student from the Ariyalur district in Tamil Nadu has died by suicide after attending the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission into medical and dental courses. This is the second such incident being reported in the state in three days – a 20-year-old student ended his own life on September 11 due to fear of taking the exam.
Kanimozhi, daughter of lawyer parents Karunanidhi and Vijayalakshmi, took the NEET exam on Sunday (September 12) and is believed to have found the question paper “tough.” She ended her life on Monday evening when her parents were away.
Police said Kanimozhi was under stress after attending the exam and quoted family members to say that the girl was upset over her performance in NEET. She had scored 562/600 in plus-two exams.
Kanimozhi’s father is an advocate at the Jayankondan court in Ariyalur district, which witnessed the first NEET death when S Anitha ended her life in 2017 after she failed to get admission into a medical college despite scoring “good marks” in plus-two exams.
Kanimozhi’s suicide came hours after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a Bill seeking exemption from NEET for students from the state. However, the Bill will come into being as a law only if the President gives his assent to the legislation.
Chief Minister M K Stalin appealed to the students not to take the “extreme step” of ending their lives and asked parents to counsel their children to be strong.
“We have been opposing NEET which takes away the lives of students in the state right from the beginning. We have launched our legal struggle to abolish NEET in the state and as a first step, we have passed a bill with support from all political parties except BJP. I want to assure parents that we will not back down from the fight until we get exemption from NEET,” Stalin in a statement.
The Chief Minister also referred to allegations of NEET question paper being sold for lakhs of rupees. Opposition Leader and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami blamed the DMK for Kanimozhi’s suicide. “DMK has to stop playing politics. Instead of merely watching students dying by suicide out of fear, the DMK should speak the truth on NEET,” he said.
NEET is a highly emotive issue in Tamil Nadu with 14 young students ending their lives either due to fear of appearing for the exam or due to not landing in a medical college despite scoring “high marks.”
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