The row surrounding NEET candidates being forced to remove their bras to enter the examination hall in Kerala over ‘security reasons’ has snowballed as more parents have come forward with similar allegations. The incident came to light on Sunday, July 17, when a student’s parent filed a complaint with the Kollam Rural police, alleging that his daughter and other female students were made to write the exam without their innerwear, which left them distressed.
The students were appearing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance test (NEET) at the Mar Thoma Institute of Information Technology in Ayur. The exam, which is for admission to medical courses, is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). After the row erupted, officials of the Mar Thoma Institute of Information Technology told TNM that the persons frisking the students were sent from the NTA, and were not assigned by the college. NTA officials in charge of the centre, however, have denied that any such complaints were made at the centre.
As per the complaint, the persons frisking students before entering the exam hall said that the metal hooks in the bras were a ‘security concern’, and asked students to remove them. Since the initial police complaint was given, more parents whose children were subjected to the humiliating incident at the same centre have also come out with similar allegations.
"Our house is more than a one-and-a-half-hour drive from the centre. My daughter, who was very upset, explained all that happened at the centre on our way back home. After reaching home, I tried to find an official’s contact to file a complaint but their (NTA) website had nothing. Whom should we complain to? The NTA’s reply to the issue is offensive. Are they saying that all the students are lying? First they harassed children and now they are covering it up,” a parent, who did not wish to be named, told TNM.
A student has also spoken to the media about the alleged apathy of the monitoring officials at the centre. "There was a table there, where everyone's innerwear was dumped. We saw some students crying there too,” she said. She also alleged, “After the exam, they told us to hold our bras in our hands, not allowing us to wear it there. We covered our chests with our hair and wrote the exam as we were uncomfortable sitting without a bra.”
Based on the complaint, the Kollam police have registered a case under sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman). The police have said that those who were involved in the act would be arrested soon.