Girls Asked To Remove Bra For NEET Exam; 5 Women Detained: All About The Case

While a fact-finding committee was established to investigate the claims, five women were arrested in Kerala for reportedly forcing girl students who took the medical entrance exam NEET to remove their bras during frisking.  

In a previous statement, the National Testing Agency (NTA) dismissed a 17-year-old student's accusations that she was requested to take off her underwear on Sunday, stating that the exam centre administrator had notified them that the complaint was "fictitious" and made with bad intent.

After filing a police report, the father of a 17-year-old girl who was taking her first NEET exam became aware of the occurrence. The arrest comes after protests that started on Monday in Kerala's southern region of Kollam grew more intense and violent on Tuesday, according to reports. Here are 10 things to know about the case.

Kerala NEET Bra Removing Case

1. After the Kerala government raised the problem with the Centre in an effort to get serious action taken, the NTA, which administers the test, established the panel.
2. Along with other public figures from Kerala, Union Minister V Muraleedharan discussed the matter with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
3. After protests that started on July 18, there was an arrest. In the southern district of Kerala called Kollam, the protests grew more intense and violent on Tuesday.
4.  The Union Ministry of Education (MoE) took notice of the claim and stated that it had been brought to its attention through a number of media reports that an event is believed to have occurred in one of the Kerala NEET (UG)-2022 testing centres.
5. A fact-finding committee was established by the NTA as a result, according to the Ministry, to determine the facts in full.
6. Similar claims were made by several other female students, although they did not independently contact the police. In a letter to Pradhan, Kerala's Minister of Higher Education R. Bindu expressed shock and dismay at the reports of the assault on the female students.
7. A segment of protestors damaged the educational facility in Ayur during protest marches. According to reports, student activists broke through the police barrier to infiltrating the college grounds, causing destruction. Police intervention resulted in the injury of some student activists.
8. According to the candidate's parents, such activity is not permitted by the NEET dress code. An NTA official noted that the rule calls for maintaining the integrity and fairness of the exam while observing sensitivity toward gender, culture, and religion during the frisking of candidates.
9. The police opened a case based on the girl's complaint. Police reported that IPC Sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (Word, gesture, or act intended to offend the modesty of a woman) have been used.
10. The Kerala Women's Commission stated that it was sure that these activities were insulting to women on the basis of the two complaints it had received. The commission's chairperson also requested that the NTA take action against the incident's perpetrators.

Suggested Reading: Girls Asked To Remove Bra For NEET Exam: Is Our Dignity So Disposable?