Two more NEET aspirants die by suicide, toll rises to 4 within 2 days

The psychological toll of the cancelled National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) has intensified across India, with two more student suicides reported within a 24-hour window. In Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore, a 19-year-old medical aspirant named Anukeerthana ended her life on Wednesday morning by consuming poison at her residence in Park Town, Kovaipudur. Before taking the drastic step, she sent a poignant WhatsApp message to her relatives expressing severe distress and financial guilt over the upcoming June 21 re-examination, noting her fear of facing her parents after her initial test efforts were voided due to the nationwide cancellation.

In a parallel tragedy on Wednesday night, a 17-year-old student preparing for the highly competitive medical entrance test plunged to his death from the sixth floor of an apartment complex in Ahmedabad’s New Ranip locality. Local police authorities are investigating the exact triggers behind the fatal leap, which marks the fourth student suicide in the country within just forty-eight hours. Prior to these incidents, a 23-year-old candidate in Dehradun and a 17-year-old girl in Lucknow also took their own lives, bringing the cumulative student death toll to approximately twelve since the examination was formally scrapped on May 12.

The structural crisis began after the National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted the initial test cycle on 3 May 2026 for over 2.3 million candidates vying for nearly 100,000 medical and dental seats nationwide. Following extensive investigations by state intelligence wings confirming systemic paper leaks and institutional irregularities, the testing body nullified the results. The subsequent mandate for a complete national re-test has triggered widespread panic and severe anxiety among students. Following Anukeerthana’s death, political activists and grieving family members staged protests outside a Coimbatore medical facility, demanding strict accountability and the immediate resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.