Nineteen Indian students have killed themselves in the last two months, on foot of a set of controversial results issued for an exam which is crucial for access to further education.
The test in question is given to students attending 12th grade (16-18 years of age), and its results are key to enable students to continue on to university.
However, serious concerns have been raised about markings for hundreds of exams, with many students claiming that they were marked ‘absent’ when they were actually present, or that they had been awarded zero marks for a number of subjects they claimed to have completed.
The local board of education is under scrutiny over the deaths, which have occurred at a rate of 2-3 a day since the results were given.