NEET 2022: A protest that was held in the Kollam district of Kerala against NEET frisking personnel asking girl students to remove their innerwear turned violent on Tuesday.
Protests that began on July 18 saw a section of agitators, who took out protest marches, vandalise a private education institution at Ayur in Kollam District. Student activists allegedly entered the college premises breaking the police cordon, leading to vandalism. Some student activists have suffered injuries in police action.
Meanwhile, Kerala Women's Commission registered a case based on complaints it received. The Kerala Women's Commission said in a statement, "it was convinced that prima facie these were actions that insulted women."
"Uncivilized methods such as 'undressing' for the exam, which are written mostly by teenagers, would naturally affect the mind of the students and make them unable to concentrate on the exam," Commission chairperson, P Satheedevi said.
Kerala government asks for Centre's help
The Kerala government took up the issue with the Centre seeking strong action against the agency which allegedly forced students to do it. Meanwhile, Kerala Women's Commission registered a case based on complaints it received. The state police have already registered a case.
Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu, in a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, expressed "dismay and shock" at the news of "naked assault on the dignity and honour of the girl students." Bindu sought action to prevent future occurrences of a similar nature and sought the Union Minister's intervention in the matter.
Kerala police registers case
Based on the girl's complaint, who alleged that she was asked to take away her innerwear before she appeared for the test, police registered a case. IPC 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) have been invoked, police said.
NTA's response to complaint
A senior NTA official said, "No complaint or representation has been received by us. On basis of claims in media reports, an immediate report was sought from the centre superintendent and observer. They have informed that no such incident took place and the complaint is fictitious and has been filed with wrong intentions."
The NEET dress code does not permit any such activity as alleged by the parent of the candidate. The code provides for ensuring sanctity and fairness of exam while observing sensitivity towards gender, culture and religion during frisking of candidates, the NTA official added.
The agency hired by NTA, in Kerala's southern Kollam District, for purposes including carrying out frisking, allegedly asked the girl students to remove their innerwear. A 17-year-old girl has lodged a formal complaint with police and several other girl students have made similar allegations, though they have not separately filed complaints.
ALSO READ | NEET 2022: NTA says 'no complaint received about girl asked to remove innerwear' at Kollam centre
ALSO READ | NEET 2022: Kerala Police registers case against friskers who forced girls to remove undergarments
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