MUMBAI: An 18-year-old medical aspirant died by suicide after allegedly consuming rodent-killing tablets after she got a low score in the NEET re-exam in Maharashtra.
According to local police, Samiksha Deepak Pawar had appeared for the NEET examination last year. After failing to clear the exam, she was reportedly under severe emotional stress and depression.
On July 23, 2026, she allegedly consumed poisonous rat-killing tablets at her home. However, she did not inform her family about the incident.
The effects of the rat-killing tablets developed after two days. She started vomiting and developed severe abdominal pain, so Samiksha disclosed the reason behind the suffering and informed her family about the incident.
Then, Samiksha’s family immediately took her to a nearby hospital, where she succumbed and was declared dead. The suicide case has been registered in the local police station, which is probing the case.
In the Ahilya Nagar incident, where the19-year-old NEET aspirant Ankita Suresh Sangale died by suicide, the local police said she had left behind a note indicating that she was under immense stress over her result.
The two incidents, reported within days of each other, have once again highlighted the immense academic pressure and emotional burden faced by students preparing for highly competitive entrance examinations like NEET.
In India, 21 medical aspirants had committed suicide due to a paper leak and mental stress, and that resulted in a massive student protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and other parts of the country that culminated in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
