TN Dalit student who moved SC against NEET ends life

17-year-old Anitha committed suicide a week after the Centre declared that Tamil Nadu can not be exempted from National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) exams. What wrong had she done, who will answer?”said her father T Shanmugham, a daily-wage labourer, at the Gandhi Market in Trichy”.

Friends and relatives of the girl held protest demonstrations outside the hospital where her post mortem was conducted seeking abolition of NEET.

He has demanded the state and the Centre to take moral responsibility for his daughter’s death.

She was found hanging at her house in a village in this district, police said.

While agitations began across various districts in the state on Friday night, political parties and various students organisations have called for protests on Saturday.

The news generated widespread reactions, including those from movie stars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. We must do our duty now; I also have to do my bit, with my tears and anger.

Put Chutney, a Tamil YouTube channel which has frequently commented on current issues, has now put up a video titled Who Killed Anitha that encapsulates the anger and frustration that many from the state feel.

Anitha had scored an impressive 1,176 out of 1,200 marks in class XII board examinations. “A comprehensive plan is getting ready for the early identification and intervention in the cases of frustration and depression among the students, particularly after the examination results”, said state health secretary Dr J. Radhakrishnan.

She had impleaded herself as one of the respondents in the Supreme Court challenging the NEET.

Already, protests across Tamil Nadu are juxtaposing the dreams of a brilliant and hardworking young girl with what they say is incompetence of the state government and the callousness of the Centre.

Anitha belonged to an interior village of Kulmour in Tamil Nadu, where her last rites will be performed today. She was depressed over not being able get admission in a medical college and ended her life when family her members were away.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami said that Rs 7 lakh would be given to Anitha’s family, as would a job to one family member.

Opposition parties said as much, blaming the state and central governments for the NEET mess and held the BJP government responsible for her Anitha.