One more medical education aspirant dies by suicide in Tamil Nadu
Chennai(PTI): A 17-year-old girl, an aspirant of MBBS and belonging to a village in Vellore District, died by suicide on Wednesday as she was concerned that she may not get through the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test, police said.
As the number of student suicides increased to three within four days, starting with that of Dhanush on September 12 when the national test was held, Chief Minister M K Stalin and leaders of political parties, conveying their condolences to the bereaved family, earnestly appealed once again to the student community to not take such extreme measures.
The government announced a dedicated toll free number, 104, for offering counselling to medical aspirants who appeared for NEET.
The girl, Soundarya belonging to Thalayarampattu village near Katpadi in Vellore district, who had appeared for NEET on Sunday was dejected as she was worried that she may not be able to clear the test, police said. She hanged herself this morning by 9.30 AM in a room of her house using a saree, a Katpadi police officer told PTI. Over a span of about four years, Soundarya is the 17th medical aspirant to die by suicide in Tamil Nadu following the introduction of NEET. Stalin said he was shattered to learn about her suicide and squarely blamed the Central government for being "stone-hearted" and unrelenting to exempt Tamil Nadu from the ambit of NEET.
He reiterated his staunch opposition to the test and once again assured cancelling the test, apparently in its application to Tamil Nadu. Requesting the student community in a video message, he said, "I beseech you again and again to not take your life, the future of this country lies in your future; let us live and prove to be successful." Also, he said, "we will melt the stone-hearted people, we will not rest until the injustice of NEET is eliminated." The government has announced the 104 helpline to help NEET students, he said and appealed to the parents to not exert pressure on their children over examination and its results. The Chief Minister also requested teachers, social activists and the film fraternity to "sow the seeds of confidence" among students. AIADMK top leader O Panneerselvam urged Chief Minister Stalin to pay special attention on this issue as suicides are being reported even before the declaration of NEET results. The AIADMK leader urged the government to offer counselling to aspirants and parents to avoid such suicides in future. Panneerselvam, a former Deputy CM, requested the students to realise that ending one's life is not a solution and added that there are a variety of options open to them to emerge victorious in life.
The AIADMK coordinator, also a former Chief Minister, slammed the DMK for repeatedly promising to "cancel NEET" which led the students to "believe" that they would be able to join courses in medicine based on their Class XII marks. When such an assurance to get the test eliminated was not fulfilled, students were forced to take the exam and this resulted in mental agony for some aspirants who were driven to take the extreme step, he alleged.
On Tuesday, Kanimozhi, belonging to Ariyalur District died by suicide fearing the outcome of NEET, for which she appeared days ago.
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Israel rejects UN allegations that its forces have sexually abused detained Palestinians
United Nations, Aug 12 (AP): The UN chief warned Israel that the United Nations has “credible information” of sexual violence and other violations by Israeli forces against detained Palestinians, which Israel's UN ambassador dismissed as “baseless accusations.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to Ambassador Danny Danon that he is “gravely concerned” about reported violations against Palestinians by Israeli military and security forces in several prisons, a detention center and a military base.
Guterres said he was putting Israeli forces on notice that they could be listed as abusers in his next report on sexual violence in conflict “due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations.”
Danon, who circulated the letter and his response Tuesday, said the allegations “are steeped in biased publications.”
“The UN must focus on the shocking war crimes and sexual violence of Hamas and the release of all hostages,” he said.
Danon was referring to the Hamas group's surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, where some 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage. Israeli authorities said women were raped and sexually abused.
The Hamas attack triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but that about half were women and children.
Danon stressed that “Israel will not shy away from protecting its citizens and will continue to act in accordance with international law.”
Because Israel has denied access to UN monitors, it has been “challenging to make a definitive determination” about patterns, trends and the systematic use of sexual violence by its forces, Guterres said in the letter.
He urged Israel's government “to take the necessary measures to ensure immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence, and make and implement specific time-bound commitments.”
The secretary-general said these should include investigations of credible allegations, clear orders and codes of conduct for military and security forces that prohibit sexual violence, and unimpeded access for UN monitors.
In March, UN-backed human rights experts accused Israel of “the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence.”
The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said it documented a range of violations perpetrated against Palestinian women, men, girls and boys and accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees.
At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the UN Human Rights Council, which commissioned the team of independent experts, as an “anti-Israel circus” that “has long been exposed as an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.” His statement did not address the findings themselves.
