The National Commission for Women (NCW) has demanded action against the staff who allegedly ‘forced’ girls to remove their bras before sitting in the NEET exam conducted on Sunday at Kollam in Kerala.
The NCW said it has taken serious note of the incident which is “shameful and outrageous to the modesty” of young girls.
“Chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the chairperson of the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations levelled by the girl students and to take appropriate action in accordance with law against the responsible. The Commission has also sought a time-bound investigation in the matter,” NCW informed in a statement.
The NCW has also written to the Director General of Kerala Police (DGP) demanding a fair investigation into the incident
The action taken must be apprised to the commission within three days, the NCW informed.
Also read: Girls ‘forced’ to remove bra before sitting in NEET exam
Notably, Girl students were allegedly forced to remove their undergarments before entering a NEET exam centre in Kollam district of Kerala.
The incident took place on Sunday, but came to light only after father of a girl filed a police complaint regarding the incident.
The girl was allegedly asked to remove her bra or else she would not be allowed to take the medical admission exam.
“Is your future or innerwear big for you? Just remove it and don’t waste our time,” the girl was told, according to her father’s complaint to the police.
“Almost 90% of female students had to remove their inners and keep them in a storeroom. The candidates were mentally disturbed while writing the exam,” the girl’s father further alleged.
‘My daughter had to borrow his mother’s stole to cover up’, said father of a 17-year-old girl who was allegedly forced to remove her inner wear before appearing for the prestigious National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) exam on July 17.
“After a security check, my daughter was told that the hook of the innerwear was detected by the metal detector, so she was asked to remove it,” the father of the girl said.
In the FIR, the father of the girl alleged that his daughter had noticed a “roomful of innerwear that was taken” from the girls, who were crying and felt “mentally tortured”.
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“The mental state of these children was disturbed ad they could not attend the exam comfortably,” the FIR stated.
Meanwhile, the Kerala government has taken strong note of the incident.
Kerala higher education minister R Bindu has already shot off a letter to union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the matter.
The Kerala minister has sought strong action against the agency that allegedly ‘forced’ the girl students to remove their bras before entering the NEET exam centre in Kollam district.
The Kerala minister expressed “dismay and shock” at the news of “naked assault on the dignity and honour of the girl students”.
“The shame and shock of this unexpected turn of events have affected the morale and composure of the students whose performance in the test was consequently affected,” Bindu said.
“I write to place on record that we take strong exception to such inhuman behaviour from an agency that has only been entrusted with the task of conducting the examination in a fair manner,” the minister said.