TN NEET aspirant dies by suicide in fear of exam

A 21-year-old student preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) allegedly died by suicide on March 28, near Chennai, due to fear of underperforming in the medical entrance exam, police said on Saturday.

The NEET aspirant, Devadharshini, was reportedly under extreme stress as she had failed the entrance exam three times earlier. The exam is scheduled for May 4.

The student had reportedly told her parents about the stress she was going through, an official told Hindustan Times. She was at her father's bakery in Kilambakkam, located about 40 km from Chennai, on Friday, when she told him she was going home and would come back later.

When she did not return, her father tried calling her, but she did not respond. When her mother went home to check on her, she found her hanging from the ceiling fan in her room, a Hindustan Times report said. No suicide note has been recovered yet.

Devadharshini had been attending both online and offline classes at a private coaching center in the Anna Nagar area of Chennai since 2023. She had attempted the NEET exam three times but did not achieve the expected cut-off. Despite this, she continued her preparations and applied to sit for the NEET exam again this year, for the fourth time.

AIADMK accused DMK of deceiving students

The AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami slammed Chief Minister MK 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.

Palaniswami slammed the DMK for "laying the foundation for shattering the dreams" of Tamil Nadu students to study medicine, and he asked: “For the DMK, which deceived (the people) by spreading a blatant lie that there will not be NEET exam in Tamil Nadu if it assumes power in the state; does not the continuing NEET deaths prick its conscience?” Palaniswami wrote in Tamil on X.

The AIADMK chief alleged the DMK leaders have the blood of several NEET aspirants on their hands. “How are you (DMK leaders) going to wipe away the blood stains that get accumulated on your hands?” the AIADMK top leader asked and said it was due to a huge lie uttered by the DMK for the sake of gaining political advantage.

He also named as many as 19 students and alleged they had ended their lives between September 2021 and March 2025 due to fears over clearing NEET. The DMK assumed office on May 7, 2021.

The AIADMK leader urged students to march forward with confidence and shun negative thoughts. "Life is big, the world is big," he conveyed to them.