DHARMAPURI: On a day anxious parents stood outside the NEET centres, the family of Aadithya was outside the Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital to collect their son’s body.
The body of the 20-year-old boy was collected on Sunday, after the family members along with PMK functionaries staged a protest for over nine hours in front of the hospital on Saturday night, demanding cancellation of NEET, a solatium and a government job from the State government.
Though the family members initially refused to conduct postmortem examination, they accepted it later when most of their demands were met, sources said. It was alleged that the family started a protest when police officials tried to conduct a postmortem examination without the family’s consent.
Aadithya’s father Manivannan said, "Last night we were requested to sign on an FIR copy. However, we noticed that there were additional documents. When we checked, we found that the officials were trying to sneak in consent papers for the autopsy without notifying us."
Irked over this, we staged a protest, he added. The maternal uncle of the deceased and a senior PMK functionary Sureshkumar told mediapersons that they want NEET to be cancelled across the country. "A youth from a poor family will not be able to compete for an MBBS seat and many families will be ruined as long as NEET continues," he added.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, DSP Rajkumar cleared the air and said that they got the consent for the autopsy, but did not get consent for discharging the body. However, after Superintendent of Police C Pravesh Kumar held talks with Manivannan and PMK functionaries assuring them to fulfil their demands, they accepted the body.
PMK assistant general secretary SP Venkateshan who addressed the press on behalf of the family said, "Based on assurances from the government, we have reached an amicable decision. We have requested solatium and a government job for one of the family members and the government has accepted our demands. Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss assured to speak to Chief Minister about this matter."
After the announcement, Manivannan and two other family members signed the discharge papers and accepted the body. Aadithya’s body was taken to Poosaripatti in Salem near the Dharmapuri border for his final rites.
Higher Education Minister KP Anbalagan visits boy’s parents
Minister of Higher Education KP Anbalagan and Collector S Malarvizhi met Aadithya’s parents to offer their condolences. Meanwhile, CPM and DYFI staged a protest in front of the Dharmapuri Medical College chanting slogans against NEET.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on Tamil Nadu’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)