Come back, my son': Indian exam leak leaves trail of death, despair, anger

More than 2.3 million students took India’s NEET on May 3 for fewer than 130,000 medical college places. NEET scores determine eligibility for undergraduate medical colleges and the specific schools students can enter. After allegations of a paper leak, the exam was voided by the Indian government on May 12. The cancellation left families and aspirants facing shattered dreams and deep distress. In Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, Rajesh Kumar, unable to read, clung to his son Pradeep’s chemistry book, believing the books were calling him back. The loss and uncertainty were accompanied by mourning and silence among relatives gathered in a cramped shed.

"More than 2.3 million test-takers across India, and at examination centres in Doha, Dubai, Singapore and Kathmandu, appeared for the NEET this year on May 3, battling it out for less than 130,000 spots in medical colleges. But amid allegations of a paper leak, the Indian government announced on May 12 that the examination held nine days earlier had been voided, and anothe"

"Rajesh Kumar sat staring at a chemistry book in his tin-roofed shed in Jhunjhunu district of India's western Rajasthan state. Kumar never went to school and cannot read a word, but the book carried the last traces of his son. His trembling fingers moved over formulae, diagrams and handwritten notes once mastered by the boy who had dreamed of becoming a doctor. Then Rajesh pressed the book to his chest, kissed it, and broke down."

"Rajesh's cousin rushed to hand him water in a plastic glass. Around him stood 10 to 12 men, some squeezed near the doorway because the shed, with a single room and cramped kitchen, was too small to hold everyone. No one spoke. The room had fallen into a crushing silence. The book belonged to Pradeep, Rajesh's only son and brother to three sisters."

"Pradeep, 21, had spent years solving difficult physics, chemistry and biology problems in the hope of cracking the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the examination that determines one of the world's largest medical entrance examinations. NEET scores determine whether aspirants are eligible to join undergraduate medical colleges and, if so, which schools they qualify for."

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