Kerala Woman Made To Remove Innerwear To Sit For NEET; Files Police Complaint: Report

A female student who was allegedly required to remove her innerwear in order to take the NEET in Kerala on May 6 filed a police complaint stating that an external observer stared at her 'inappropriately.' In response to her complaint, a case was filed under IPC section 509 (eve-teasing by word, gesture, or act designed to insult the modesty of a woman), and investigations have since started, according to the police.

The schoolgirl had to remove her brassiere along with a few other girls before taking the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test administered by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) at the Lion's School in Koppa. The complainant claimed that she did not feel at ease taking the test because a male external observer was gazing at her "inappropriately", according to a report by the News Minute. 

Kerala Woman NEET

Her sister was quoted as saying that the invigilator came and stood before her several times. He looked at her chest and when she tried to cover herself with the question paper, she was mentally tensed. The invigilator came near her two to three times and she found it difficult to write the exam properly due to utter discomfort, according to the report.  

Police stated that they have started their investigations and are attempting to speak with kids who also took the test at the same institution. They are attempting to speak with more test-takers who were present as witnesses. According to the report, they are also seeking to obtain a list of the other students who took the test at this institution. In the meantime, Tarun Kumar, the regional officer for the CBSE in this area, informed PTI that they had not yet received any complaints about the situation.

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In Kerala, this is far from the first instance of such a private breach motivated by a dress code. Five years prior, in May 2017, a candidate had complained about experiencing a comparable but even more complicated ordeal at a testing location in Kannur.