‘Mother, forgive me’:NEET aspirant leaves video message before killing self; 22 students die by suicide in 42 days

An 18-year-old NEET aspirant died by suicide in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district. The deceased was identified as Sushil Dhage. Before taking the step, the student recorded a video on his mobile phone and sent it to his family members. He then jumped into a well. In the 33-second video, Sushil folded his hands and apologised to his mother. He said, “Mother, please forgive me. Stay with Sumedh. Take good care of yourself and don’t worry about me. I am in a lot of pain. I can’t do anything anymore… I don’t understand anything now… just forgive me.” Sushil had appeared for the re-NEET-UG examination on 21 June. He had also taken the original exam held on 3 May, which was cancelled on 12 May following allegations of a paper leak. The re-examination was conducted on 21 June. Since the cancellation of the exam, 22 students across 11 states have died by suicide. Congress to hold ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ press conferences across the country today The Congress party will hold press conferences nationwide on Thursday under its ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ campaign. According to the party, 28 senior leaders will address the media in 28 cities. These include Satej Patil in Ahmedabad, Varsha Gaikwad in Bengaluru, Imran Masood in Bhopal, Pawan Khera in Bhubaneswar, Gaurav Gogoi in Delhi, Priyank Kharge in Chennai, Supriya Shrinate in Kolkata and Kanhaiya Kumar in Pune. The campaign aims to highlight issues related to examination irregularities, unemployment and the education system. The party said it seeks to initiate a national debate on comprehensive reforms in India’s education sector. Demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Congress alleged that the government’s education policy lacks long-term vision. The party claimed that over the past 12 years, the government has promoted only privatisation, centralisation and ideological influence in the education sector.