194/200 in Tamil
194/200 in Mathematics
186/200 in Physics
173/200 in Chemistry
148/200 in English
129/200 in Biology
These are the marks of the son of a daily wage labourer from Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. A total of 1024 marks out of 1200 meant that 18-year-old Dinesh had passed Class 12 in first class with 85%. It has been two days since the results were announced, but Dinesh’s family has neither acknowledged his feat nor collected the marksheet.
Dinesh’s father and two siblings have little reason to celebrate these grades when the teenager himself is no more. The medical aspirant had taken his own life on May 2 by hanging himself from a railway bridge at Vannarpettai. Dinesh was preparing for the NEET exam and was set to appear for it on May 6. His hall ticket was found in a bag that he had with him in his final moments. The reason he gave for his drastic decision was his father’s alcoholism.
“Appa, this is Dinesh writing this letter. You should not drink after I die. You should not light my pyre because you drink. You don’t have to shave your head. To put it openly, you don’t do my last rites. This is my wish. Only then my soul will rest in peace,” read the young man’s heart-wrenching suicide note. He further wrote, “Stop drinking at least now, Appa. This is my wish. Only then I will be at peace.”
Dinesh’s relatives had told TNM that he had always been a bright student and had scored 485/500 in his Class 10 exams. In fact, they shifted him to a school in Namakkal district in order to help him pursue his dreams of becoming a doctor.
But Dinesh was always concerned about his father and would persistently call him and tell him not to drink. In his letter, he had gone on to ask if the government would shut down state-run TASMAC alcohol outlets after his death.
The young boy’s suicide due to his father’s alcoholism came as a rude reminder to the state government, which had gone into slumber as far as its poll promise of phased prohibition is concerned. Prohibition activists told TNM that Dinesh’s death was a murder by the state and that his father was merely a victim of government policies.
Meanwhile, 48-year-old Madasamy, who lost his son recently, told TNM that he would never drink again and that if the government decided to shut down the state-run alcohol outlets it would benefit all families in the state.
(With inputs from Sudhakar)