A 21-year-old student from Tamil Nadu’s Surandai in the Tenkasi district ended her life fearing she had not performed well in the 2022 edition of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). The results are expected to be announced on 7 September.
The girl had attempted to clear the exam twice before, but couldn’t make it.
She took this dreadful step at around 11:30 am, on Thursday, 1 August, after her parents had gone to work. The Tenkasi Police registered a case under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Police officials from the Tenkasi SP office told South First that they found the girl’s body inside her house, and no suicide note was found.
On Friday, the Tenkasi Police handed over the body to her parents after a post-mortem examination.
She was the elder daughter of 54-year-old daily wage labour Amalraj and housewife Venniyar (48). Her younger brother Udhaya Jyothi (19) had completed his schooling, according to the Tenkasi police officers.
The victim completed her Class 12 at a private school near Tenkasi and appeared for the NEET exam thrice, but couldn’t able to clear it.
According to the Tenkasi Police, the answer key for the NEET questions was released two days ago, and the victim had appeared sad since then.
“For the last two days, she was depressed and worried, questioning if she could clear her third attempt at NEET,” police officers told South First.
Officers also quoted the girl’s parents as saying that she had studied hard and focused on getting cracking the exam, but the fear of failure had taken her life.
Academic experts and psychologists told South First that the state has seen several students ending their lives over this exam.
“Parents should not force children to write the exam if the students don’t want to, and if they do not clear the exam the first time, parents should either motivate them or advise them to try another course instead of mounting their expectations on them,” the experts noted.
The deceased’s family was not reachable despite multiple attempts by South First.
Suicides are preventable, and help is available. Please reach out to any of these numbers below to seek help and prevent your life from suicidal thoughts:
Tamil Nadu
State health department’s suicide helpline: 104
Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre – 044-24640050
Andhra Pradesh
Life Suicide Prevention: 78930 78930
Roshni: 9166202000, 9127848584
Karnataka
Sahai (24-hour): 080 65000111, 080 65000222
Kerala
Maithri: 0484 2540530
Chaithram: 0484 2361161
Both are 24-hour helpline numbers.
Telangana
State government’s suicide prevention (tollfree): 104
Roshni: 040 66202000, 6620200
SEVA: 09441778290, 040 27504682 (between 9 am and 7 pm)
