NEET aspirant from Delhi found dead in Kota refused to sit for May 4 exam, wanted one more year
Kota (PTI): Ranjit Sharma, a carpenter in Delhi's Tuglakabad, sobbed uncontrollably outside the mortuary of a hospital here as he waited to claim his son's body. The man and his wife had been in the city just a few days ago to take his NEET-aspirant son back home, but he had refused.
According to the parents, Roshan Sharma (23) had abruptly told them just a few weeks before the May 4 NEET-UG exam that he would not appear for it this year.
Just three days after they had left for Delhi, the body of their son was retrieved from the bushes near a railway track here early on Thursday with a preliminary police probe indicating that he had consumed a poisonous substance.
In between sobs, Ranjit Sharma said his son had been preparing for NEET for the past three years and had recently confided with his sister that he needed another year to get fully ready for the prestigious medical entrance exam.
"Our son was studious, scoring 550-600 marks in routine tests at the coaching institute," he claimed on Friday, struggling to wrap around his head the reason for the suicide just days before the exam. The perfect score for the NEET-UG exam is 720.
This is the 12th case of suspected student suicide since January in the city, considered the country's hub for competitive exam coaching. Last year, the city reported 17 suicides by aspirants.
According to Roshan's parents, he had himself decided to join a coaching institute in Kota and jumped to another institute in the city just after a year.
Ranjit Sharma told that they came to Kota on April 22 to take their son back to home, but he refused. When their son couldn't be found in his hostel they contacted him over phone, only to be told that neither would he sit for the NEET exam this year nor return home.
They returned home with his belongings, hoping he would follow them. When that didn't happen, the distraught parents kept calling their son, urging him to return home. Roshan had also shared with his sister over the phone that he wanted a year more to prepare for NEET, he added.
The police handed over Roshan's body to the family after post-mortem on Friday and lodged a case under section BNSS Section 194 (A) (enquiry on suicide) for investigation, Circle Inspector at Kunhadi police station Arvind Bhardwaj said.
The parents have not levelled any allegation, he added.
This was the second case of suspected suicide reported within 48 hours in the coaching city which has been under critical lens for the past few years for high rates of suicides among competitive exam aspirants, often attributed to them not coping well with the pressure of studies and high expectations from their families.
On April 22, an 18-year-old NEET aspirant from Bihar allegedly hanged himself to death in his hostel room. In a note, the student said neither his family nor his preparation for NEET-UG was the reason behind his extreme step, police had said.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the state’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416.)
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First in Malayalam movie artists association history, women elected to its top leadership
Kochi, Aug 15 (PTI): In a first in the history of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), women were elected to its top leadership positions.
Women actors Shwetha Menon and Kukku Parameswaran were elected as president and general secretary of the organisation respectively. Besides them, Ansiba Hasan was elected as joint secretary and Lakshmi Priya as the vice president.
State Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian welcomed the development, saying it was his personal view that women should come to the leadership posts of AMMA.
"I say this because it is necessary to create more opportunities for women in the film industry. It is for the first time that women are being elected to the leadership positions of AMMA," he said.
The minister congratulated Menon, Parameswaran and Hasan, saying that they were all competent and strong women.
"Let them all work together. I see it as evidence of the continuation of the changes brought about in the film industry following the recently held cinema conclave," Cherian said.
He also said that it was an indication of the good times that will come for the Malayalam film industry.
"I am not saying men are bad. For so long men were heading it. Let women rule come now," he added.
