19-yr-old NEET aspirant dies by suicide in Tamil Nadu's Madurai due to apprehensions over exam

-

Madurai: A 19-year-old medical aspirant allegedly died of suicide on Saturday, apparently "apprehensive" over the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET), police said.

The victim, identified as Jothisri Durga, was found hanging at her residence and a purported suicide note left behind by her said she was "apprehensive" though others had "high hopes" on her, they said.

The death, which comes days after another medical aspirant in Ariyalur in the state also allegedly died by suicide, drew sharp responses from the state's parties who are opposed to the NEET, even as Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam of the ruling AIADMK expressed shock over the incident.

DMK president MK Stalin said the NEET "is not an exam at all."

Taking to Twitter, Palaniswami expressed grief over the "sad" incident and said students have many avenues to taste success and resorting to such extreme steps was distressing.

"It is distressing to see students, the hope for the future, taking such steps," he said. Condoling the girl's death, he expressed his sympathies with the family.

In a tweet, Panneerselvam expressed grief over such incidents concerning the students, who are the "pillars of the future."

"Students should learn to face any situation with guts and parents should aid them in this," the deputy chief minister, also the AIADMK Coordinator, said.

Stalin, Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, expressed shock over the suicide, but said killing oneself was not the solution.

"We can realise from the death of Anitha (a medical aspirant who died of suicide in 2017) to Jothisri Durga that NEET is severely affecting students," he said in a tweet.

"I repeat, suicide is not a solution; NEET is not an exam at all. #BanNeet_SaveTNStudents," he added.

PMK MP Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, whose party is an NDA constituent, condoled the student's death and expressed his sympathies with her family.

"#SayNoToNEET #BanNEET," the PMK Youth Wing leader tweeted. His father and party founder Dr S Ramadoss also called for scrapping the exam.

MDMK founder and Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko slammed the BJP-led Centre, saying suicides of students in the state were happening due to the "imposition" of NEET on them.

Recalling various instances of suicides by students in Tamil Nadu, including that of Anitha, which had sparked an outrage in the state, Vaiko alleged that despite their high class XII scores, students from the poorer sections were "filtered" in NEET and their medical dreams "destroyed."

"Cancellation of NEET alone can prevent such deaths," he said in a statement.

Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader and independent legislator, TTV Dhinakaran and Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan also expressed anguish over Durga's death.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain a batch of pleas seeking deferment or cancellation of NEET scheduled for Sunday.

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan had said that authorities will take all necessary steps for conducting the NEET-undergraduate exam amid the COVID-19 pandemic for admission in medical courses.

A collection of Suicide prevention helpline numbers are available here. Please reach out if you or anyone you know is in need of support. The All-India helpline number is: 022 2754 6669

 



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2GVV7av
Press Trust of India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

120 flights delayed, 30 trains running late; Delhi fog & cold wave continue to give shiver to travellers

-
Arrival and departure of 120 flights, both domestic and international, to Delhi airport were affected due to dense fog and cold wave conditions on Wednesday, according to Delhi Airport FIDS (Flight Information Display System). As per the Delhi Airport FIDS, a total of 53 flights, including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures and three international arrivals scheduled are cancelled and not operating due to fog and other operational reasons from and to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital on 17 January. #WATCH | Delhi: Several flight operations delayed at IGI airport due to low visibility amid fog. pic.twitter.com/hG1DUKllEt — ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2024 Visuals from the Delhi airport showed passengers waiting outside, checking update of their scheduled flights. There were also some people waiting for flight of their families, friends and loved ones to arrive, which got delayed due to fog. #WATCH | Delhi | Pas
Read more