'I am sorry, I am tired...' NEET aspirant commits suicide a day ahead of exams in Madurai

“If I don't secure a medical seat, all of your efforts will have gone in vain. I am sorry. I am tired,” these were the last words that Jyothi Sridurga ended her suicide note with, before ending her life early Saturday morning. A Madurai-based MBBS aspirant, Jyothi Sridurga ended her life just a day ahead of the National cum Eligibility entrance test (NEET) for the current year, becoming the second student from Tamil Nadu to die by suicide out of fear and stress in a single week. 

Daughter of a police official Murugasundaram, Sridurga, in her four-page letter also addressed her siblings and family members, saying she was scared of disappointing herself and others in the event of failing to pass the exam. Apart from the suicide note, police officials say, she had also left behind a video recording in her phone, explaining the fear of not securing a seat to be the reason for this rustic step and that no one should blame themselves for her decision. 

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Speaking in the video farewell, bidding goodbye to her family an emotional Durga revealed the reason for her decision, "I did prepare well, but I'm scared. Please do not blame anyone... I'm sorry Appa, Amma....," she said.

Her father, Murugasundaram who is a sub-inspector said she had been preparing for the upcoming NEET exam even the night before, having prepared for the same ever since she completed her class 12 in 2019. 

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Sridurga’s suicide comes less than few days after V Vignesh, another NEET aspirant from Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu, who reportedly committed suicide due to similar reasons. Protests have been going on in the state against conducting NEET examinations since the death of Anitha, three years back. A student with a stellar performance in her 12th grade, Anitha was not able to crack NEET; she had moved the Supreme Court challenging the exam. Her death had sent shockwaves across the state and firmly established an anti-NEET sentiment in Tamil Nadu.

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Expressing grief over the death of the students who died by suicide due to NEET - induced stress, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had requested students preparing to appear for the examination to not give in to the stress. “Pains to see students taking such steps,” said the CM in a statement he had given following V Vignesh’s death. The Deputy Chief Minister O Panneer Selvam issuing a statement today morning also requested students not to take such drastic measures. “I encourage the students to face anything without being discouraged and also request parents to be supportive of the students,” he said taking to Twitter this morning. 

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Consistently demanding NEET be scrapped from Tamil Nadu since the death of Anitha three years back, Opposition party leader M K Stalin in a statement on Saturday said the fact that the NEET exam has been disrupting the balance of the student community has been borne out by the suicides — from Anitha to Jyothy Sridurga.

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