NEET 2022 aspirants allegedly forced to remove bra before writing medical exam

Several young women and girls appearing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) at an educational institute in Kollam district of Kerala were on Sunday asked to remove their bras before writing the test over metal hooks to avoid the prospect of ‘cheating’ during the exam.

As per the dress code of the entrance exam, students are not allowed to wear any metallic object or accessories while entering the exam hall as an anti-cheating measure. While the advisory talks about belts, it does not talk about undergarments such as bras which may include metal underwiring.

According to the father of one such aspirant who was asked to remove her bra, his daughter is yet to come out of the traumatic experience wherein she had to sit for the over three-hour-long exam without a brassiere. The father has lodged a police complaint and intends to move to the Human Rights Commission as well.

As per preliminary reports, nearly 100 girls had to undergo this ordeal. They were asked to dump their undergarments together in cartons.

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.

A senior police officer of the district said that a team of women officers have gone to record the statement of the girl and based on what she has 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.

This is not the first time that women students had to face harassment at the NEET exam centres, several similar incidents have been reported in the past.

In 2017, a female student attempting the medical entrance exam in Kannur was asked to remove her inner-wear. Back then, medical exams were conducted by the CBSE.