Student deaths deepen anger over India medical exam leak scandal

A leaked medical entrance exam paper and the order for a retest have intensified anger in India over pressure on students and alleged failures in the education system.

Rema Begum, a 20-year-old from a village in Assam, had hoped to become a doctor after years of study and paid coaching classes. Her father, Rajaul Islam, said she believed she had performed well in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, known as NEET, before learning that the question paper had been leaked and that candidates would have to sit the exam again. Days before the new exam date, she was found dead.

Local media and activists have reported that at least 20 students took their own lives after the incident. The leak, along with other exam irregularities, has led to nationwide protests and public anger.

Begum's father, a fish trader, said he had spent heavily to send his daughter to coaching centres in larger cities for two years. He said she became withdrawn after the retest was announced and worried that the money spent on her studies would be wasted.

The report describes strong pressure around medical admissions in India, where government medical colleges are seen by many families as a path to economic security. More than two million candidates took the exam this year, competing for roughly 137,000 medical seats nationwide.

G.N. Devy, a literary scholar and former professor, said success in NEET represents the hope of a secure life for many families, but that demand for places is far greater than the number of institutions available. He said exam preparation can be financially damaging and socially exhausting, especially for lower-income households that cannot afford private universities or education abroad.

In Rajasthan, farmer Rajesh Kumar said he sold ancestral land and borrowed 1.1 million rupees, about $11,400, so his son Pradeep Meena could attend coaching classes for three years. Kumar said his son believed he had done well in the exam. Meena, 22, died by suicide a day after authorities announced the retest.

In Uttar Pradesh, Anup Kumar Mishra said his 21-year-old son Ritik Mishra had been making his third attempt at the exam and believed he had performed well. His son took his own life a day after news of the leak emerged.

Some students who retook the exam described the process as demoralising. Chaitanya Aggarwal, 19, said candidates had given their best and were then forced to sit the test again. Abhijit Patra, a coaching-centre teacher in Kolkata, said preparing for and taking the exam is already highly stressful, and that paper leaks make the experience worse.

Begum's father called on the government to treat examination irregularities seriously, saying children from poor families face great difficulty when they try to build a better life through education.