BHOPAL: Two days before the NEET-UG re-examination, a 21-year-old aspirant died after allegedly falling from a multi-storeyed residential building in Indore, where she lived with her elder sister. The incident occurred in the Bhawarkuan area of the city.
Avantika Maurya, daughter of government medical officer Dr Banshi Maurya, was living in a rented flat with her elder sister, an MBBS graduate preparing for postgraduate medical entrance examinations.
“It was around 11.30 pm on Thursday when some students living in the locality informed us that Avantika had fallen from the building. She had left her cellphone in the rented flat while we were sleeping,” said her father, who was attending a six-day training programme at Indore’s MY Hospital.
According to her father, Avantika had appeared for the NEET-UG examination three times but had not qualified. He said she had been distressed in recent months and was particularly affected by the cancellation of the earlier NEET-UG examination and the upcoming re-test.
“She wanted to become a doctor. This time the exam was cancelled and the re-exam was just a couple of days away. She was under depression, possibly because she could not clear the medical entrance exam. She was not eating regularly and often remained withdrawn,” he said.
After the incident, Avantika was taken to a private hospital and later referred to MY Hospital. Despite treatment, she died early on Friday morning.
Her elder sister, Dr Sapna Maurya, said Avantika had remained quiet throughout Thursday and appeared distressed about the upcoming re-test.
A cousin, Harsha, said Avantika was determined to pursue medicine and had planned to take another attempt at NEET-UG. According to her, Avantika believed she had performed well in the examination that was later cancelled over allegations of a paper leak.
Another relative, Dhan Singh Maurya, said the family was aware that she had been struggling emotionally. He added that she had enrolled in a pharmacy course but was not interested in pursuing it.
Police said the exact circumstances surrounding the death would be established only after a detailed investigation.
“Investigations are underway to ascertain whether the death was accidental or otherwise. Our forensic team has visited the site, but no conclusive evidence has been found so far. We will also examine her mobile phone records as part of the probe,” a police official said.
The incident comes nearly a month after another NEET aspirant from Madhya Pradesh reportedly died in Nagpur while preparing for the examination. Family members had then linked her emotional distress to the cancellation of the NEET-UG exam following allegations of a paper leak.
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