NEET aspirant was hopeful of cracking the exam until the last minute

Chennai: Medical college aspirant Jagatheeswaran, 19, was hopeful of cracking the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) until the last minute when he suddenly reversed his decision and ended his life.

The incident has sent shock waves across Tamil Nadu, after Jagatheeswaran's father, unable to come to terms with his son's demise, also took his own life.

Hours before Jagatheeswaran took the extreme measure, he sounded confident of clearing the test on his third attempt, and convinced his father to pay the fee at a coaching centre here.

"I had even suggested that he go abroad with his brother for studies. But, he said he would take up the test again and secure the qualifying marks and get admission in a medical college," his father P Selvasekhar, a single parent, had told reporters on Sunday.

But on Saturday night, after being unable to reach his son over the phone, Selvasekhar, an event photographer, sought help from his friend and a photographer colleague to find out why his son didn't respond to his calls.

Jagatheeswaran was found hanging in his house at Kurinji Nagar in Chromepet, here. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, police said.

Unable to bear the loss of his son's demise, Selvasekhar, 48, after completing his son's last rites, died by hanging at his house on Sunday night, the police added.

Though no suicide note could be found, inquiries by the police revealed that Jagatheeswaran had made two unsuccessful attempts at clearing NEET after he passed Plus Two from a CBSE school in 2021 scoring 427 marks out of 500.

The Chitlapakkam police have registered a case.