NEET aspirant dies by suicide in UP; family blames exam cancellation
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Lakhimpur Kheri: A 21-year-old NEET aspirant allegedly died by suicide in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri on Thursday, with family members claiming he had been under severe stress following the cancellation of the NEET examination over a paper leak controversy.
The deceased, identified as Ritik Mishra, was found hanging in a locked room at his residence in the Gangotrinagar locality, police said.
Ritik, a resident of Hasanpur Katauli village under the Isanagar police station area, also had a family home in Lakhimpur city.
According to his father, Anoop Mishra, this was Ritik’s third attempt at the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), and he was highly confident of clearing the examination this year.
Though no suicide note was recovered from the room, family members said the cancellation of the exam had left him emotionally devastated.
“Ritik was under immense mental stress after the NEET exams were cancelled following reports of a paper leak,” Anoop Mishra told reporters.
He said Ritik had returned to the city from the village on Wednesday and had openly expressed his disappointment and anxiety over the cancellation.
“This was his third attempt, and he was extremely confident of clearing the exam this time. The cancellation left him emotionally shattered,” his father added.
Inspector Rajesh Kumar Singh, in-charge of Lakhimpur Kotwali Police Station, said no suicide note had been found and that the body had been sent for postmortem examination to determine the exact cause of death.
A senior police officer said an investigation would be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The NEET (UG) 2026 examination for undergraduate medical admissions, held on May 3, was cancelled by the National Testing Agency on Tuesday following allegations of a paper leak.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has so far arrested five persons in connection with the case.
The cancellation of the examination has left more than 22 lakh medical aspirants across the country facing uncertainty.
With PTI inputs