Exam Stress Crisis: Salem 19-Year-Old S. Gopika Dies by Suicide Amid Academic Pressure Surge | NewsX

[00:00:00]put out all that information on our screens and there you have it. Let's quickly tell you about the suicide case that is emerging. The 19-year-old victim is S. Gopika.

[00:00:10]Her residence, as we see over here, is in Velalappuram near the Chinnapattu Bunny Salim in Tamil Nadu. Her father is Sekar.

[00:00:21]He's a saloon worker. We have some more details on her. Let's quickly put that out as well.

[00:00:26]Her mother is Bhuvneshwari. She's a daily wager. She's written the NEET examination thrice including the one that took place on May 3rd that was null and void.

[00:00:37]And she was depressed for over writing the examination repeatedly. So, like we told you, she's already given the examination multiple times and she she was very exhausted by the whole exercise. The victim S. Gopika feared the retest. She died by suicide on Friday, that is June 19th. So, those are the details that we're tracking as far as this case is concerned. So, we've given you the details and again, what's emerging out of this is the fact that this girl, this candidate, had already given the examination multiple times.

[00:01:12]And based on what we're being able to understand right now, she was depressed.

[00:01:16]She didn't know or didn't have the will and power to give the examination again. On that note, let me get in a perspective from Dr. Jayanti Dutta, clinical psychiatrist who's joining us on the broadcast. Thank you for your time speaking to us on NewsX.

[00:01:30]Um what exactly are you making of these um developments that are taking place because like I was telling Brinda ji, these are not isolated events that are happening not just in a particular state but across India.

[00:01:47]Again, we're looking at this case where the girl has said that she she does not have the willpower to give the examination. She's already given it thrice and now she's reported to have her own life. What kind of mental stress does a person go through when you're when you're put in a situation like this?

[00:02:06]>> A lot of stress. I would say NEET exam, the whole fiasco is being organized like the syndicate, you know? There are political motives. There are uh groups, you know, gangs who are motivated. Nobody bothers about losing young lives like this. Look at it. 16 people, 25 people, young bright children who have assimilated all the ambitions and the hopes, you know, not only of their own, but of the family. Look at this girl who committed suicide, the background she's coming from. It's so unfortunate. There is no sense of uh responsibility for anyone.

[00:02:50]They are dying like, you know, it's it's okay. Take it for granted. We have it in media, we discuss about it. And last so many years I've been interviewed, I visited the place, and you know what happens? The message which is given to the candidate, nobody bothers. They take the money before, and then they tell, "Tomorrow it's a NEET exam. You are done." And you know the children are carrying the whole lot of hopes and expectations of the family members, the their parents, their siblings. And you know, they don't know how to get up, how to face the world once they lose, once they are not able to succeed in the NEET exam. So, it is a life and death problem for them, and nobody bothers. Leak ho jata hai, ho jane do. You can buy the seats. I think it's high time. This kind of organized syndicates who are involved with the NEET exam, they should be taken to task. I don't know why government is not doing anything about it. Every year we lose a quota and a sporadic, you know, these kind of individual cases. It's been taken very lightly. We discuss it. Kudos to the media. If you guys were not there, probably public will not even come to know. One in stray incidents here, one on the other corner. 16 people dying, 25. Last year we lost 25 to 27 students, you know, who committed suicide. And everybody comes to know. And what I concluded is it's that sense of irresponsibility with which they handle. They are more concerned with the money. They don't bother. And the way the tutors declare, you know, if you have not been able to clear it, you are not worth. You will not get a chance to be a doctor. And you know, the child who has assimilated all the hopes and aspirations of her, of the family, doesn't know how to face it. It is a more than a major intense crisis.

[00:04:50]So, you are pushing these youngsters, forcing them to commit suicide for some amount of money, you know? I think it is high time the government should come down heavily on this. I would like the kind of bulldozer approach Yogiji uses. They should use it for these kind of you know, the syndicates who are running these preparation thing for quota and all these organizations who assure you, "Give us this much money and we will make sure that you clear your NEET exam." Somewhere we should have a forum where you can say, "Koi baat nahi, if you've not been able to clear this exam, life is worth living. It's not that if you've not been able to clear it, die.

[00:05:33]You have nothing else to do." So, the child has no way to go, nowhere to turn to, doesn't know what to do. It's high time, you know, we should take it in in responsible manner. It should be a responsibility of the community as well as the Ministry of Education, you know.

[00:05:53]You cannot just rightly say, "All right, NEET paper was leaked." How the hell it was it leaked? So many students' life you have taken for granted and they are dying. You were not ashamed to sit on the chair of a minister. It's high time the minister should be questioned. What is the plan? What is the program? What have you done to see that these kind of losses are not happening anymore?

[00:06:18]>> Absolutely.