The Supreme Court on Monday told the Tamil Nadu government to file an affidavit on the suicide of medical aspirant S Anitha on September 1. The Tamil Nadu chief secretary has two weeks to file a reply, ANI reported.

Anitha is believed to have committed suicide because she could not get admission to a medical college through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test. Admissions to medical and dentistry colleges are carried out on the basis of Neet scores. Anitha had petitioned against it at the Supreme Court.

On Saturday, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes had directed Tamil Nadu’s Ariyalur district collector and police superintendent to thoroughly investigate her death and submit a report within 15 days, The Times of India reported.

Anitha, the 17-year-old daughter of a Dalit daily wage labourer, had scored 1,176 out of 1,200 in her Class 12 examinations under the Tamil Nadu state board, but had secured only 86 out of 720 in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test. She had approached the Supreme Court against Neet, arguing that the entrance test would harm the aspirations of students from rural Tamil Nadu.

Protests in the state intensified after her death, and many were arrested. On September 8, the Supreme Court had banned all protests against Neet in Tamil Nadu and said any agitation against the exam would amount to contempt of court.

The Neet controversy

In Tamil Nadu, medical admissions were based on marks scored in Class 12 examinations, which were conducted by the state education board. Neet, however, is based on the Central Board of Secondary Education’s syllabus, which is vastly different.

The Tamil Nadu government has opposed the Neet and said a common test will harm the prospects of students from the state. Anitha, in her appeal against the Neet in the Supreme Court, had pointed out how poor students who lived in villages could not afford the private coaching classes that students in cities could.