CHENNAI: The suicide of Anitha, the dalit girl who spearheaded the fight against the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) exam, has sent shock waves across Tamil Nadu. Superstars such as Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have expressed grief over the incident.
The daughter of a daily wage labourer, 17-year-old Anitha was one of the respondents against NEET in a Supreme Court case.
Despite scoring 1,176 in her class XII State Board examinations, she was unable to join MBBS course due to low scores in NEET.
On Friday, she ended her life by committing suicide at her home in Ariyalur district. Her death triggered strong reactions from all quarters.
Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, while talking to reporters on Friday, said: "We need to ensure that no student should take such drastic step in the future. This is not the end. We will fight and win. We have to make our argument louder in court.'
Describing the whole incident as "unfortunate", superstar Rajinikanth tweeted: "What has happened to Anitha is extremely unfortunate. My heart goes out to all the pain and agony she would have undergone before taking this drastic step. My condolences to her family."