Tamil Nadu girl who fought against NEET commits suicide

Chennai: A 17-year-old Dalit girl who had moved the Supreme Court against NEET-based medical examinations allegedly committed suicide. Anitha was reportedly upset after it became known that Tamil Nadu will not be exempted from the ambit of National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET).

Daughter of a daily wage earner, Anitha dreamed of becoming a doctor.She was found hanging at her house in a village in this district, police said. The Dalit girl had approached the apex court last month opposing a plea seeking admissions to under graduate medical courses only on the basis of the NEET score.

The police said they were investigating the matter. Meanwhile, the residents held a ‘road roko’ in the village, slamming the AIADMK-led state government for the death of the girl.“District police superintendent, district collector and other senior officials are present on the spot for coordinating the legalities post the death of the girl,” a police official told PTI. The body has been taken to a government hospital for autopsy, he said.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar told reporters that he was deeply pained by the death of the girl.Education Minister C Sengottaiyan expressed grief and anguish and said steps were being taken to prepare students for any competitive exam. He said such instances must never be repeated. DMK working president M K Stalin expressed concern over the death of the girl and called the government “inept”.“Students are the future of the nation and they should never attempt to do such things,” he said while asking the state government to own up responsibility for the death.Various political parties have been cornering the state government for its failure to get exemption from the NEET. Actor Rajinikanth also condoled the death of the teenage girl.

“What has happened to Anitha is extremely unfortunate. My heart goes out to all the pain and agony she would have undergone before taking the drastic step. My condolences to her family,” he said in a tweet. VCK chief Thol Thirumavalan, a Dalit leader, expressed anguish at the death of the girl and said no student should attempt ending their lives as there were a lot of opportunities to pass examinations. Anitha had scored an impressive 1,176 out of 1,200 marks in Class XII board examinations.

In NEET, she did not fair well and missed out on getting a medical seat. Although she could not get admission to MBBS, she had the high score to secure the admission for several other courses, including engineering.She was even reportedly offered a seat in the prestigious state-run Madras Institute of Technology here for aeronautical engineering.

Read also: Tamil Nadu cannot escape NEET: Supreme Court