NEET aspirant dies by suicide in Karnataka:5 students end lives in 12 days; Rahul Gandhi says won’t sit quietly until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns

An 18-year-old NEET aspirant died by suicide in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi after allegedly hanging herself at home. The student was identified as Bhagyalakshmi. She had appeared for the NEET-UG examination. Police said no suicide note was found at the scene. Her father, Rajashekhar, said the family had no problems and that his daughter was very good in studies. Bhagyalakshmi had recently scored 92% in Class 12 examinations and had also performed well in NEET. The NEET-UG exam was conducted across the country on May 3. However, after allegations of a paper leak surfaced, the examination was cancelled on May 12. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced that the re-exam will be held on June 21. Following the cancellation, five students have died by suicide in the last 12 days. Meanwhile, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi once again demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. In a post on X, Rahul said, “Until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns and a foolproof system is created to stop paper leaks like NEET, we will not sit quietly.” Four other student suicides in the last 12 days May 13: A boy in Margao died by suicide after appearing for NEET. In his suicide note, he wrote that he no longer wanted to take part in competitive exams. May 14: Rithik Mishra from Lakhimpur Kheri died by suicide. His family said he was deeply disturbed by the NEET paper leak and cancellation of the exam. May 15: A girl preparing for NEET died by suicide at her home in Delhi’s Azadpur area. No suicide note was recovered. May 15: NEET aspirant Pradeep Meghwal died by suicide in Rajasthan. His family said he had expected around 650 marks in the exam but was distressed after the cancellation. Accused sent to judicial custody till June 6 A court in Delhi sent NEET-UG 2026 paper leak accused Shubham Khairnar to judicial custody till June 6. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) produced him before the Rouse Avenue Court on Sunday. Earlier, on May 14, the court had sent Khairnar and five others to seven days of CBI custody. On May 20, Khairnar’s custody was extended by another five days. The agency said further interrogation was needed to identify and arrest other accused who had purchased the NEET-UG 2026 paper. So far, 11 accused have been arrested from Delhi, Jaipur, Gurugram, Nashik, Pune, Latur and Ahilyanagar. NTA chief appears before parliamentary panel On May 21, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh appeared before a parliamentary standing committee and briefed members on the NEET-UG paper leak and proposed examination reforms. According to sources, committee members raised questions regarding the paper leak, exam security, computer-based testing and flaws in the current system. Officials informed the panel that the CBI probe is ongoing and would help identify weaknesses in the examination system. NEET may shift to CBT mode next year The central government and the NTA are working on measures to make the examination process foolproof. Officials have indicated that from next year, NEET-UG may be conducted in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode to prevent incidents such as paper leaks. ​