Justice N. Kirubakaran of the Madras High Court on Monday said the media should stop “glorifying” student suicides and political parties must stop the practice of paying lakhs of rupees as financial assistance to families of the deceased if they were really interested in preventing suicides in the State.

He was of the view that these two acts were the prime reasons for the spate of student suicides in the State in recent days, due to the alleged fear to take the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

The judge felt that excessive media coverage and glorification of a suicide leads to another, and so on and so forth. He found fault with political parties too for vying with each other to provide financial assistance, in lakhs of rupees, to the families of the deceased. He said suicides would come down if these things were stopped.

The judge expressed his opinion when advocate A.P. Suryaprakasam made a mention about the four suicides in the State and said they were the result of non-compliance with the comprehensive orders passed by the judge in minor S. Kiruthika’s case on August 24, 2017.

The advocate was advised to file a contempt of court petition if he was of the view that the court orders had not been complied with, in letter and in spirit.

In the verdict, the judge had advised students against taking the extreme step just because they couldn’t clear NEET and gain admission to a medical college. “The world has become a small global village. Chances are available not just in the State or within the nation but throughout the world. Therefore, the court appeals to parents and children not to lose their heart and not to take any wrong decisions,” he had said.

The judge also said it was the duty of the government to give appropriate counselling to the children and the parents after identifying them. He said prominent personalities could also be roped in to motivate children through the media and advice them against taking any wrong steps.

The verdict went on to read: “It has to be remembered that the State of Tamil Nadu alone is seeking exemption from NEET when all other States and Union Territories have not sought such an exemption. The irony is that Tamil Nadu is a highly literate State, having more higher education institutions than others, and inspite of that, the State is seeking exemption from NEET. Even economically and educationally-backward States like Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar and those in the northeast have not sought such an exemption.”