Five women, including three who forced girls appearing for the NEET medical entrance exam to remove their bra, have been arrested, sources in Kerala Police said. The National Women's Commission has taken note of the issue that triggered outrage.
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The police filed a case after receiving three complaints that girl students were subjected to humiliation when metal hooks on their bra beeped during security checks. A case was filed against those who carried out security checks and allegedly asked the girls to take off their bra.
"They asked us to remove our bra and put it on a table. All the bras were bunched together. We didn't even know if we would get ours back when we returned," said a teen who went through the harrowing experience.
"When we were writing the exam, we put our hair in front as we had no shawl to cover ourselves...There were boys and girls and it was really difficult and uncomfortable," she added.
The National Testing Agency, which denied the allegations, formed a special team to investigate the matter hours after a state minister urged the Centre to take action.
An autonomous testing organisation which conducts the medical entrance exam, NTA said the NEET dress code "does not permit any such activity alleged".
On Monday, the father of the 17-year-old had filed a complaint with the police, saying his daughter was forced to take the three-hour exam without a bra at the Mar Thoma Institute of Information Technology.
"Is your future or innerwear big for you? Just remove it and don't waste our time (sic)," his complaint quoted security personnel as saying. Ninety per cent girl students had a similar experience, his complaint added.
The exam centre superintendent in Kollam told the National Testing Agency that the complaint was "fictitious and filed with wrong intentions" .
On Tuesday, Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu wrote to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, calling the incident a ""naked assault on the dignity and honour of the girl students" and seeking strong action.
"The shame and shock of this unexpected turn of events have affected the morale and composure of the students whose performance in the test was consequently affected," Ms Bindu wrote.
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