An 18-year-old girl from Kerala has approached the state police after a male invigilator allegedly harassed her during NEET on Sunday.
In an exclusive interview with TNM, Saira* said that she, along with 25 other girls who appeared for the test at Lions School in Palakkad, were asked to remove their bras, since they had metal hooks on them.
During the exam, however, a male invigilator kept staring at her chest, making her utterly uncomfortable, Saira says.
"He kept dropping into the class once in a while. In the entire duration of the test, he came to my class at least 4 times. The first time, I did not pay much attention when he came and stood near me. But then after sometime he returned and I felt that he was standing in front of me for an unusually long time. When I looked up, I caught him staring at my chest," Saira says.
According to North Town police, the male invigilator is in fact an external observer from the CBSE, that conducts NEET.
"The next time he came, I covered my chest with my question paper. I couldn't see half of the questions on the paper, since I was scared to take it off while he was there, looking at my chest. A fourth time, I saw him standing outside the class, near the window and looking," Saira says.
After she shared her experience with her family, she decided to file a police complaint on Tuesday night.
North Town police have filed an FIR based on Saira's complaint and have charged the male invigilator - who is yet to be identified - with section 509 of the IPC.
The police said that while the grievance that the students were asked to take off their bras citing the metal hook issue could not be taken up, since not allowing metal objects was a rule prescribed by the CBSE, he said that section 509 has been slapped against the male invigilator.
"We went to the school that hosted the exam. They have informed us that all the invigilators at the centre were women. However, an external observer from the CBSE, a man, had visited the centre. The complaint is against this man. In order to verify his identity, we are getting in touch with the CBSE soon," the SI said.
*-Name changed to protect identity