Suicide of S. Anitha

In this Indian name, the name Shanmugam is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Anitha.
S. Anitha
Anitha standing in front of the Supreme Court of India
Born
Shanmugam Anitha

(2000-03-05)5 March 2000
Died1 September 2017(2017-09-01) (aged 17)
Kuzhumur village, Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu, India
Cause of deathSuicide

Shanmugam Anitha (5 March 2000 – 1 September 2017) was a student from Tamil Nadu, India. She scored 1176/1200 in the 12th standard exams in the Tamil Nadu State Board. This would have secured her a medical seat, if only the State Board marks had been considered for admission. In NEET-UG 2017, Anitha secured 12.33 percentage of marks while she scored 86 out of 720 marks.[1] The minimum eligibility cut-off for making it into the merit list was 40 percentage for students in the reserved category.[2]

The minimum eligibility cut-off for making it into the merit list was 40 percentile ( [107 to 130] out of 720 marks ) for students in the reserved category, while it was 50 percentile for general category ( [131 to 697] out of 720 marks ). Anitha scored 12.33 percentage while admission was 14.9 for reserved and 18.2 for general categories for 2018 admission.[3][4]

Admission to medical colleges is based on NEET rank calculated via percentile rather than marks.[5]

On 1 September 2017, she died via suicide by hanging.[6] Her death created a major controversy in Tamil Nadu where the National Eligibility and Entrance Test for medical admissions was strongly opposed. She has become a cause célèbre as a victim of the system.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

  1. ^ "Dalit girl S. Anitha, who filed case against NEET, commits suicide - …". The Hindu. 2017-09-17. Archived from the original on 2017-09-17.
  2. ^ "NEET (UG) 2017 FAQ, see Questions 30, 61, 70". 2017-09-16. Archived from the original on 2017-09-16.
  3. ^ Rema Nagarajan (Apr 15, 2018). "NEET: For an MBBS seat, you need just 5% in physics, 20% in biology | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  4. ^ "Result declared! Meet the top 3 rank holders of NEET 2017". India Today. June 23, 2017. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  5. ^ "NEET MBBS merit ranking will be determined by percentile scores". www.successcds.net. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  6. ^ "Tamil Nadu girl Anitha who spearheaded fight against NEET commits sui…". 2017-09-17. Archived from the original on 2017-09-17.
  7. ^ "Dozens detained as Tamil Nadu braces for the next storm — Anitha". New Indian Express. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  8. ^ "17-year-old Anitha, who led battle against NEET exemption for Tamil Nadu in SC, commits suicide". DNA. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Dalit student who moved SC against NEET commits suicide". Sathyanarayana. Deccan Herald. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  10. ^ "'State govt., Centre to blame for Anitha's death'". The Hindu. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Ariyalur Dalit girl represents Tamil Nadu's NEET angst at Supreme Court". New Indian Express. 18 August 2017. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  12. ^ "Anitha had a dream, a poor Dalit village girl who would become a doctor — but it died with her". New Indian Express. 1 September 2017. Archived from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  13. ^ "Medical aspirant commits suicide after failing to get admission". K Sambath Kumar. Times of India. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.