In a shocking and bizarre incident, nearly 90% of women medical aspirants appearing for the NEET UG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) examination were allegedly forced to remove their innerwear before entering the examination center in Kollam on Sunday.
The incident took place in the Mar Thoma Institute Of Information Technology in Ayoor town of Kollam district, Kerala.
A complaint has been filed by one of the student’s parents regarding the inhuman treatment meted on his daughter to the Superintendent of Police of Kollam Rural.
According to the parent, who spoke to NDTV, the authorities’ reason for asking students to remove their innerwear was they “suspected something underneath”.
“As they were scanning her (my daughter) they told the metal detector has beeped and hence she should remove her innerwear. When my daughter refused, they mentally harassed her,” said the parent.
The parent said that after his daughter entered the exam center, he and his wife were about to have their lunch in the car when they got a call from a number shown as ‘information technology’ asking them to come to the gate.
“When we reached the gate, we saw our daughter in tears. She said that she and the other girls were being asked to remove part of their inner wear and asked for a shawl to wear during the test.
“My wife gave her shawl to my daughter and she went back inside and we thought that was the end of it. However, after the exam got over when our daughter came back, she was distressed and fell into my wife’s arms crying. On the way home, she told us what had transpired during the test. It was startling,” the father said.
She was sitting for her first ever NEET exam. His daughter is yet to come out of the traumatic experience wherein she had to sit for the over 3-hour long exam without a brassiere.
According to his daughter, one of the invigilators, most of them were men, said that she can either remove her brassiere or she can write the exam.
“There were two rooms where undergarments of young women and girls were stacked on top of each other in violation of COVID-19 protocols. Those writing the exams are between the age groups of 17 to 23. Imagine how uncomfortable it would be for them to concentrate during the exam when surrounded by male students as well,” the anguished father said.
It may be noted that the NEET dress code has no such mandatory rules before sitting for the exam.
A total of 18,72,329 candidates registered for NEET of which 10.64 lakh were females, according to the data shared by NTA. The exam was conducted at 3,570 centers in 497 cities, including 14 cities outside India.
Siasat.com spoke to one of the officials of Mar Thoma Institute Of Information Technology who, on condition of anonymity, categorically denied any involvement of college authorities in the incident.
The officer said that the checking and metal detection work is done by the team of the National Testing Agency (NTA).
NTA is an autonomous and self-sustained testing organization that conducts entrance examinations for admission/fellowship in higher educational institutions.
“All the searching especially the metal detection work is done in a closed room. We do not know what happened there. The college authorities were assigned the work of invigilation and hence had no idea what happened before the students entered the examination hall,” the college official said.
Asked if any of the female students complained about the treatment, the official denied it.
A senior police officer of the Kollam district said that a team of women officers have gone to record the statement of the girl and based on what she had to say appropriate action, including lodging of a case, would be taken.
The officer also said that they were looking into the private agency which was given the responsibility of conducting the test.
Reacting to the incident, Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu on Monday said the test was not organised by a state-run agency and what happened indicated a grave lapse on the part of the organisers.
Such conduct of the organisers towards the women and girl candidates without considering their human rights was unacceptable.
We will be conveying our disappointment regarding what happened to the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) — a central government agency that conducts entrance examinations for educational institutions — the minister said.
Following the incident, on Monday, different parties held protest marches against the college in connection with the incident.
The Kerala State Human Rights Commission, meanwhile, on Monday ordered an investigation into the incident.
The Commission directed the Kollam Rural SP to file a report within 15 days.
This is not the first time female students have gone through such an ordeal. In 2017, in the Kannur district of Kerala, while appearing for NEET, a female candidate alleged that she was forced to remove her innerwear before sitting for the entrance test. Other women candidates too faced a harrowing experience due to a strict dress code in force.
(With inputs from PTI)
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