With protests intensifying, five women were arrested in Kerala on Tuesday for allegedly forcing girl students, who appeared for medical entrance exam NEET, to remove their bra during frisking.
While three of the arrested women worked for an agency hired by the National Testing Agency (NTA), two worked for the private educational institution at Ayur in Kollam where the incident happened.
The state police registered a case based on the complaint of the girl who alleged that she was asked to remove her bra before she could be permitted to appear for the eligibility test. The NTA, which conducts the test, set up the panel after the Kerala government took up the issue with the Centre seeking strong action.
Union minister V Muraleedharan and other public representatives from Kerala also met Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan regarding the issue.
A section of agitators, who took out protest marches, vandalised the education institution at Ayur. Student activists allegedly entered the college premises breaking the police cordon, leading to vandalism. Based on the girl’s complaint, police registered a case and IPC Sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) have been invoked, police said.