A 21-year-old student preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions has died by suicide near Chennai.

Police officials said the student, Devadharshini, was attending coaching classes and preparing for NEET – which is scheduled to be held on May 4 – and was stressed because she had failed to crack the exam in her last four attempts. 

Her father, Selvaraj, runs a bakery in Kilambakkam, about 40 km from Chennai. The family had moved there from the Tamil Nadu capital because their earlier bakery in the city had not done well. 

Devadharshini had told her parents that she was stressed about the exam and they had reassured her, saying she had no reason to worry, an official said. The 21-year-old spent most of Friday at her father’s bakery and then told him she was going home and would return. Her mother found her hanging at home some time later. 

Opposition Attack

At least 20 NEET aspirants have died by suicide in Tamil Nadu in the past eight years. The MK Stalin-led DMK government and the AIADMK government in the past have opposed the Central exam and want admissions to be done based on Class 12 marks. The parties have argued that arguing that NEET favours students from affluent families and ensures an uneven playing field. 

In 2021, the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed a bill seeking exemption from NEET. 

After Devadharshini’s suicide, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami hit out at Mr Stalin and his party, accusing them of deceiving students by promising that NEET would not be held in Tamil Nadu if the DMK came to power. 

“The DMK lied and deceived students by saying there would be no NEET in Tamil Nadu if it came to power. Are the continuing deaths because of NEET not a cause for concern for the DMK?” Mr Palaniswami wrote in Tamil on X. 

“How are you going to wipe away the bloodstains that keep accumulating on your hands from the big lie you told for electoral gains,” he asked.