Did the pressure of NEET re-exam become the reason for the death of a 19 year old student? What was written in the last WhatsApp message that shocked the family? Did the mental stress of students increase after NEET paper leak controversy? Has the education system failed to understand the pressure of students? Will the demand for changes in the NEET system increase after the death of the 19-year-old student?
Coimbatore: The pressure of competitive examinations in the country and the failure of the system has now started taking a heavy toll on the lives of innocent students. A very shocking and tragic incident has come to light from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, where S., a 19-year-old student dreaming of studying medical (MBBS). Anu Keerthana allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison under mental stress just a few days before the re-exam of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). After this heart-wrenching incident, there has been huge anger across the state, and the protesters have taken to the streets demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The dream of MBBS was in the eyes: ‘Drop’ of one year and then that dark shadow of paper leak!
Anu Keerthana was a resident of Kovaipudur in Coimbatore and was the elder daughter of CITU trade union leader Senthil Prabhu. Kirtana was very bright in studies; He had qualified for the BDS seat in the year 2025 itself. But there was only passion in his eyes to become a doctor (MBBS). To fulfill this dream, she left her BDS seat and took a tough ‘drop’ of one year and started preparing for NEET day and night. On May 3, she appeared for the examination with full confidence and was confident that this time she would cross the threshold of medical college. But fate and the country’s examination system had something else in store. After widespread allegations of paper leak, the Central Government suddenly canceled the entire examination, due to which Kirtna’s hopes were dashed by lightning.
That dreadful date of 21st June: The mental pressure of ‘re-exam’ took away the breath.
After canceling the examination, the government issued an order to conduct mandatory re-exam on 21st June. The sudden cancellation of the exams after a year of hard work and the thought of going through the same mental torture and pressure again broke Keerthana from within. Within just a few days, the fear of giving such a big national level examination again started to dominate him. She became a victim of severe mental depression due to this confusion and uncertainty of the examination system. She was not able to understand that even if she re-appeared for the examination for which she had given everything, there was no guarantee that the results would be fair.
“I’m scared of taking the exam again…” The last WhatsApp message that made everyone cry
Just before taking this dreadful and suicidal step, Keertana sent such a WhatsApp message to her uncle’s mobile, reading which today every eye is moist and anger is boiling over the system. In that last message, Keerthana had expressed her deep concern and helplessness over the repeated financial burden on her father. She wrote: “I had given the NEET exam and was looking forward to getting into medical college, but the exam was cancelled. I am very scared of taking the exam again… I don’t know how I will ever be able to look into their (parents’) eyes.”
On seeing this message, the frightened relatives immediately ran to his house, but by then it was too late. Keerthana was lying unconscious inside the house. He was hurriedly taken to a private hospital, where despite all the efforts of the doctors, he could not be saved.
High-drama at midnight outside the hospital: Family adamant on refusal and resignation to accept dead body
As soon as the news of Keerthana’s death spread, tension spread throughout Coimbatore. The saddened and angry family members initially flatly refused to take Keerthana’s body from the hospital. He directly blamed the government’s policy and poor examination system for this death. The victim’s family and protesters demanded immediate resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and raised slogans to ban the NEET system forever. The situation became so sensitive that the district administration and revenue officials had to reach the spot. After heavy diplomatic talks and persuasion, late at night the family agreed to cremate the body.
Mobile with suicide note in police possession
After this incident, massive protests by student organizations and political parties have started on the Government Medical College campus and streets of Coimbatore. Anti-NEET wave has once again intensified across Tamil Nadu. Here, Kuniyamuthur police has registered a case of accidental death in this matter and started formal investigation. The police have seized the mobile phone of the deceased Kirtana, so that concrete evidence can be collected about that last WhatsApp message and other circumstances related to her death. But the biggest question that remains is that for how long will the promising students continue to embrace death due to the country’s faulty examination system and paper leak mafias?