- NEET aspirant Akanksha Chaturvedi died by suicide after the exam was cancelled
- Her mother now demands death penalty for those responsible for the paper leak
- Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Education Minister amid protests over the paper leak
No step could ever bring back her daughter. But she hopes for justice. The mother of a NEET aspirant, who had died by suicide, now demanded nothing but the death penalty for the paper leak culprits.
Dharmendra Pradhan had resigned yesterday as Education Minister amid massive protests over NEET paper leaks. But what will that achieve, asked Neelam Chaturvedi.
"Hang the paper leak culprits," she demanded.
Her daughter, Akanksha Chaturvedi, had died by suicide in Nagpur on May 20 after the NEET medical entrance exam was cancelled earlier this year. A re-test was held a month later.
Read: 'Don't Have Courage To Take Exam Again': NEET Aspirant Dies By Suicide
Speaking to the media yesterday, she said he supported the students' movement, but accountability does not end with resignation.
"We are not satisfied with Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. We have extended our support to the students' protest. Those involved in the paper leak should be sentenced to death," she added.
Originally from Madhya Pradesh, Akansha had moved to Nagpur with her family to prepare for the NEET exam. She had enrolled in a coaching institute for the preparation.
She had taken the NEET test on May 3 and had said that the paper had gone well, her mother recounted, adding that she had died by suicide after the NEET exam was cancelled.
"Akansha's father has suffered two heart attacks and has also been paralysed. Who will take care of us now? If my daughter were alive, she would have handled everything," she lamented.
In her handwritten suicide note, the 18-year-old student had summed up the immense emotional burden she had been carrying.
"Mom and Dad, you had faith that your daughter would study hard and become a doctor, but I no longer have the courage to take the NEET exam again. I was scoring good marks in my first attempt, but now there is no guarantee that I will perform well again. I am sorry, Mom and Dad. I have ruined everything," the note read.
According to her family members, her father had taken financial risks to support his daughter's education. He cultivated a small piece of land and also worked as a cook in Nagpur to meet the household expenses and his daughter's coaching fees.
Her uncle Jagdish Prasad Chaturvedi said she appeared happy when she returned home. Once confident of scoring more than 650 marks, she went into deep shock after the leak and stopped eating and talking much, he had said.
"We never imagined things would end this way," he had said.
(Inputs by Praveen Mudholkar)
