Row over removal of sacred thread during CET in Bengaluru
Bengaluru (PTI): A row has erupted after five Brahmin students were forced to remove their sacred thread (Janeu/Yajnopaveetha) at Krupanidhi College in the city during the CET held here.
The Common Entrance Test (CET) is held to select students for admission into professional courses.
Students on Friday alleged that the invigilators present at the examination hall of the college at Madivala asked them to get the sacred thread removed if they wished to write the exam.
This was despite the fact that last year, when a similar controversy took place, the government made it clear that the sacred thread would not be removed during the CET. However, once again this year, students faced similar discrimination.
A student said, "When I went to the examination centre, the teachers got my ear ring removed. I can still understand that because no metal is allowed, but they also forced me to get the sacred thread removed from the body."
Left with no other option, the student obeyed the diktat of the invigilators.
Sources said parents of the students reached the venue after the exam was over and questioned the motive when there were standing instructions not to remove the sacred thread.
Some other students alleged that the red and yellow sacred thread (Mauli/Kalava) tied to the wrist was also removed by the invigilators.
When a similar controversy erupted in Shivamogga, Bidar and some other places, the state's Higher Education Minister M C Sudhakar, assured parents that action would be taken against those responsible for it.
Even the chief minister had directed authorities not to ask students to remove the thread last year. Yet, the incident was repeated on Thursday, the parents alleged.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
