Tamil Nadu: Three NEET aspirants hang to death on eve of exam

MADURAI/SALEM: Three students who were preparing for the national-eligibility-cum-entrance test (NEET) in Tamil Nadu ended their lives on the eve of the exam on Saturday. Jothi Sri Durga, 19, of Madurai, M Aadithya, 20, of Dharmapuri and M Mothilal, 21 of Namakkal were all found hanging inside their home.
Jothi Sri Durga, daughter of a sub-inspector of police and an agricultural officer, had completed plus two last year and written NEET but failed to make it. She had joined a coaching centre and stepped up preparations for this year’s exam. Her mother had taken leave to assist her in the preparations. In a suicide note left behind, Sri Durga said it will be disappointing for her family members if she did not get a seat for medicine this time too. “You have a lot of expectation on me. In case I do not secure a medical seat, all your hard work will go in vain. I am sorry. I am tired,” she wrote in the five-page note. She also said she had left a video recording on her phone for her father and urged him to take good care of her brother Sridhar, who is now in class X.
Her father Murugasundaram, who is attached to the 6th battalion police, told newsmen that she had secured good marks in the model exams at the coaching centre. They noticed nothing unusual when she spoke to them before going to sleep. He came to know about the incident, when he woke up in the middle of the night.
M Aadithya, 20, of Sevathan Gounder street at Illakiyampatty in Dharmapuri was the son of Manivannan and Jayachitra. They returned from Salem around 6 pm and found the main door of the house closed. When they peeped through the window gaps, they found Aadithya hanging from the ceiling using Jayachitra’s sari.
Aadithya was appearing for NEET for the second time. Jayachitra told mediapersons that her son usually secured full marks in the model NEET exams at the coaching centre. M Mothilal of Idaiyanparappu in Tiruchengodu town was the son of Murugesan who owned an electrical shop in the town. “He was found hanging at his room from the ceiling using his mother’s sari,” said Ashok Kumar, DSP, Tiruchengode division. He added that his parents noticed this around 8.15 pm.
Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam, opposition leader M K Stalin, PMK leader S Ramadoss and leaders of other political parties have condoled the death of Sri Durga. Expressing anguish over students resorting to the extreme step, the chief minister said in in his official twitter handle, “There are innumerable ways to succeed in life when the students develop determination and perseverance”. Stalin said the death of the girl has once again exposed NEET’s ugly face.