19-year-old Chennai girl dies by suicide after failing NEET exam
What's the story
In a horrifying incident, a 19-year-old Chennai girl died by suicide on Wednesday in Ambattur, Tamil Nadu after failing to clear the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET).
The results for the 2022 set of tests were released on September 7, and she took the drastic step just hours later.
Notably, she and her family have been demanding to abolish NEET.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Tamil Nadu has been marred by student suicides, with nearly a dozen students allegedly killing themselves in a month following academic pressure either from their teachers or family members.
Competitive exams like NEET too are blamed for the pressure cooker situation for the aspirants.
Authorities also expressed concern over the recent incidents and called the deaths "painful."
Incident
What do we know about the incident?
According to India Today, the family of the girl (name withheld) rushed her to KMC hospital in Chennai after learning about the event.
However, she was declared 'brought dead' by the doctors in the emergency section.
Later, her body was sent for autopsy.
Notably, a total of 1,32,167 applicants from Tamil Nadu appeared in the NEET this year, with just 67,787 passing it.
Details
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi meets girl's family
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met with the family members of the girl who died by suicide.
According to India Today, the family members informed Gandhi about the challenges in writing the exam and stated that they had been calling for the abolition of NEET examinations.
He is presently in Delhi for the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra.
NEET
Similar incidents in the past
This is not the first time that a NEET aspirant died by suicide in the state.
In July, a day before the exam, a girl died by suicide in Ariyalur. Police found a letter written by the girl which said she took the extreme step out of fear of the exam.
In another case, an 18-year-old boy died by suicide in early July.
Information
Transformation in selection process
In the past, students who wanted to study medicine were admitted based on their combined marks from their 12th-grade grades and entrance exam results from a state-wide examination before the NEET exams were made mandatory in 2017.
Helplines
If you have suicidal thoughts, please seek help
In case you need help or know someone who does, you can reach out to the Sneha Suicide Prevention helpline at 044 -2464000 (24 hours).
You can also contact AASRA for suicide prevention counseling at 022 2754 6669 (24 hours).
You can also contact the Hyderabad-based Roshni NGO at +914066202000 or COOJ at +918322252525.
Vandrevala Foundation has trained counselors, and their number is 18602662345.