NEET Tragedy: Aspirant Commits Suicide After Editing Scorecard to Hide Poor Marks
CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR- In a shocking incident, a 19-year-old student from Rajasthan allegedly took his own life by hanging himself in his hostel room after struggling with his NEET scores. He allegedly tried to edit his scorecard, police said.
The incident took place on June 19. The deceased has been identified as Kumar, who was pursuing a BSc Agriculture first year at the Agriculture College in Latur, Rajasthan. He had secured admission through the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) quota and was preparing for NEET along with his regular college course.
He reportedly tried to change his actual marks, which were 170, to 545. After the incident came to light, the police were immediately informed, and a case was registered. During the investigation, the police found two NEET scorecards, one showing 170 marks and the other showing 545 marks. However, the police had seized the edited NEET scorecard.
The investigation also revealed that the student had shared the fake scorecard on his friends' WhatsApp group, which earned him praise, but some of his friends were not aware of it. On this, speaking to the TOI, a senior police official involved in the investigation said he allegedly edited the original PDF using a cellphone application to show higher marks. He then allegedly also shared the modified scorecard with his friends.
Meanwhile, according to the police, the student's edited scorecard raised suspicion due to the discrepancy in the 13-digit application number and the unscannable QR code. However, the police also believe that realising the forgery may have caused him immense emotional stress, which contributed to his alleged suicide.
The police have ruled out the involvement of any organised racket or external agents in the manipulation. However, there is no evidence that the student obtained a fake scorecard from any agency or was part of any racket, informed Santosh Patil, inspector of Shivajinagar police.
