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Kollam. One of the many girl students, who were allegedly forced to remove their bras ahead of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) in Kollam, Kerala on Sunday, on Tuesday referred to the humiliating situation she faced when she appeared for the exam. I was sitting and using her hair to cover her chest. Sharing what happened at the examination center during the nationwide exam NEET for admission to medic colleges across the country, the 17-year-old girl choked up saying it was a “very bad experience”.
“They called me and said that there will be scanning. We thought they would let us go after the scan, but they made us stand in two queues – one for girls wearing bras with no metal hooks, and the other line…” She added, “They asked me, what You’re wearing underwear with metal hooks? I said yes, so I was asked to join the second line.” The girl told that she did not understand what was happening and why.
The student said, “They asked us to remove our bra and put it on a table. Everyone’s bras were tied together. We didn’t even know if we would get our bra back when we came back. When we came back it was crowded. There was some sort of scuffle. But I got my bra.” Forced by the situation, some girls cried in shame. Just then one of the female security staff there reportedly asked, “Why are you crying?” After leaving the examination, the security personnel, in a hurry, instructed that everyone should take off their bras and move forward.
The girl alleged, “They said take your bra in hand and go away, there is no need to wear them, we were very embarrassed to hear this. But everyone waited till that changed. It was dark there and there was no place to change clothes… it was a terrifying experience. When we were writing the exam, we kept our hair in front because we had no shawls to cover ourselves… there were boys and girls and it was really difficult and extremely uncomfortable.”
The incident came to light when the father of a 17-year-old girl in Kerala’s Kollam district filed a police complaint on Monday, alleging that his daughter followed the ‘dress code’ mentioned in the NEET bulletin which ended in: Nothing is mentioned about the clothes. The candidate’s father said in the complaint that though his daughter was asked to remove her underwear to appear in the examination.
