‘Come back, my son’: Indian exam leak leaves trail of death, despair, anger
Key takeaways
- More than 2 million aspiring doctors took India’s NEET examination.
- xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Ritik Mishra (in white shirt) celebrating his birthday last year.
- His trembling fingers moved over formulae, diagrams and handwritten notes once mastered by the boy who had dreamed of becoming a doctor.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
More than 2 million aspiring doctors took India’s NEET examination. But the test was compromised and cancelled, leaving in its wake suicides, mourning families and shattered dreams.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Ritik Mishra (in white shirt) celebrating his birthday last year. Mishra died by suicide this month after India's premier medical entrance examination was cancelled [Courtesy of Mishra's family]By Aatif Ammad Published On 26 May 202626 May 2026Jhunjhunu, India – 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.