Kollam(Kerala): A female NEET aspirant from Kerala has lodged a complaint with police that she and many other students were forced to remove their underwear during the security checkup for NEET exams held across the country on Sunday.
The student lodged the complaint at the office of DySP Kottarakkara claiming that they were asked to remove underwear while passing through the metal detector installed at Marthoma Institute of Information Technology in Ayur area of Kollam district. The student said that they were not allowed to enter the examination hall without removing her underwear.
The student approached the police after undergarments were found dumped together in cartons post the examination. Meanwhile, the college authorities denied responsibility stating that frisking and biometric checking were done by external agencies. The student's father has lodged a police complaint and intends to move the Human Rights Commission as well. He said that his daughter was dressed as per the dress code mentioned in the NEET bulletin which does not say anything about innerwear.
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"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 a 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.
He said that as per his daughter, one of the invigilators, most of whom were men, said that she can resist removing 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," he added.
"Subsequently, I also got a call from the Kollam SP who said that Chadayamangalam police were looking into the matter and how I want to proceed with it. I told him that I am not doing it only for my daughter, but for all the other girls and women there. In future, no other parent should have to face such a situation again. I am ready to go to any extent for that. I will also move the Human Rights Commission as I feel that it is also a violation of human rights. This should never again happen in our country," the father said.
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 a 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)," the minister said.
