NAGPUR/NEW DELHI - An 18-year-old medical aspirant from Madhya Pradesh, Akanksha Chaturvedi, ended her life in Nagpur on May 20, 2026, after falling into severe depression over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy. In a final note to her parents, she wrote: "I no longer have the courage to face the rescheduled test" .
Her family had taken a loan of nearly Rs 3 lakh to fund her coaching, and her father, a small farmer, had also taken up a job as a cook in Nagpur to support her dream of becoming a doctor .
This tragic death is not an isolated incident. It is the fifth reported NEET-linked student suicide since the paper leak controversy erupted in May 2026 . According to media analysis, at least 93 student suicides linked to NEET examinations have been reported across India in the past five years, with 2025 recording at least 32 such deaths .
The NEET-UG 2026 examination was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 3, 2026. On May 12, the exam was cancelled following widespread allegations of a massive paper leak . The matter was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a comprehensive probe .
The CBI investigation has uncovered a chillingly sophisticated operation. According to details that emerged in court, leaked question papers were being traded for amounts ranging between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 12 lakh .
Three subject experts appointed by the NTA itself have been identified as the masterminds:
P V Kulkarni (Retired Chemistry Professor) : As a chemistry paper-setter for the NTA, he held special coaching classes at his Pune residence. Leaked chemistry questions, answer options, and correct answers were dictated to select students .
Manisha Mandhare (Botany Teacher) : With access to botany and zoology questions as early as April 27, she mobilized students through a local intermediary and held classes disclosing the paper .
Manisha Havaldar (Physics Teacher) : An NTA-appointed physics expert, she had "complete access" to the physics questions and shared them with Mandhare and students .
So far, the CBI has arrested 13 people in connection with the case, including the three subject experts and several facilitators from Pune, Jaipur, Gurugram, and Nashik .
While the NEET tragedy dominates headlines, it is merely the tip of a massive iceberg of institutionalized corruption plaguing India's education system.
In a shocking revelation, the Chairperson of the Bar Council of India (BCI), Manan Kumar Mishra, recently admitted in an interview that an estimated 35 to 40 per cent of advocates practicing in Indian courts are using fake law degrees. "Their degrees are absolutely fake; they manufactured them somewhere or bought them from somewhere, and on that basis, they are practising in courts," Mishra stated .
A massive fake certificate scam got caught in India with lakhs of dummy degrees sold for jobs. Fake documents for medical and engineering fields were given to unqualified people for money. This big fraud puts innocent lives in danger. pic.twitter.com/TXmhBQB0E6
- VIZHPUNEET (@vizhpuneet) June 4, 2026
The BCI discovered this when it initiated a degree verification process, and 40% of advocates did not fill out the verification forms. This has raised serious questions about the integrity of India's judicial system, where judgments affecting millions are being argued by individuals with no legal qualification .
The scale of the problem extends across the country. In Jharkhand, police have previously exposed a massive racket involving the distribution of fake degrees, with a local "education mafia" allegedly in collusion with university officials. In Bihar, out of 10 million candidates for a public school teacher recruitment drive, over 4 million were found to be holding fake degrees, and police seized over 100,000 counterfeit certificates .
To bypass verification, counterfeiters have moved from simple printing presses to operating fake universities. One such institution, the self-styled "Maharshi Valmiki Balmiki University" in Himachal Pradesh, was shut down after distributing 4.1 lakh (410,000) fake degrees, 3.6 lakh (360,000) of which were allegedly sold for cash, with a staggering 88% fake rate. Customers could "buy" bachelor's, master's, or even PhDs for a few thousand rupees, enabling them to secure government jobs or migrate to Western countries .
Opposition leaders have seized on the tragedy, labeling it "murder by a corrupt system."
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, launched a fierce attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government on X (formerly Twitter):
"Akanksha wanted to become a doctor... Her father took a loan of Rs 3 lakh on a Kisan Credit Card, and took up a job as a cook. A father did everything he could. Then the NEET paper leaked. The exam was cancelled. In that uncertainty, Akanksha left us forever. Akanksha's death was not suicide - it is the tragic outcome of a corrupt, broken system under Modi ji" .
Gandhi also questioned why Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan remained in his chair despite the disaster, alleging "No reforms, no justice" .
As the nation prepares for a re-examination on June 21, the human toll continues to mount. For every Akanksha, there are hundreds of thousands of aspirants whose careers have been derailed by systemic greed.
When Rahul Gandhi warned PM Modi that "an entire generation of India's youth is now paying the price for the extent to which you have ruined the education system," he was not just speaking of a paper leak . He was speaking of a broken pipeline where merit is crushed by money - where those who cannot afford to buy a seat or bribe an official are left with no hope.
Akanksha's final note - "I no longer have the courage" - is not just a personal tragedy. It is an indictment of India's educational reality. It is a message from a generation that is tired of fighting a stacked system, and a country that is losing its brightest minds to a corrupt and broken machinery.
