As the country gears up for National Eligibility Entrance Examination (NEET), one more aspirant committed suicide taking the death toll in the state to three.

“I am sorry. I am tired.” This is how 19-year-old Jyothi Sri Durga, a NEET aspirant who took her own life a day before the examination, ended the note to her parents. Jyothi was apparently afraid to write the common entrance exam.

The young woman lived with her parents and brother in the armed forces reserve quarters in Madurai.

Her father Murugasundaram serves in the fifth battalion of the armed forces. She had written the NEET exam last year but only managed to score 100.

She had been preparing for a year for the exam. Jyothi was found dead in her room and had left behind a letter and video expressing her fear for the exam.

In the long letter addressed to her father, Jyothi stated that she fears being unable to meet their expectations and that she fears disappointing them. She repeatedly tells her parents not to blame themselves for her decision.

In the video, she is also seen apologising profusely for her decision to her parents. Speaking to the media, her father said, “She studied well. She would have got over 550. But she was depressed.

She spoke to us well at night. In the morning, we came to know about her suicide.”

The other two students who committed suicide in the last month are also 19-year- olds. The first such case was in August where a young R Subashri took her own life in Coimbatore district, afraid to write the upcoming entrance exam. Her death had come a day after the Supreme Court dismissed pleas seeking postponement of the examination.

This was followed by another death, last week of a young man from Ariyalur district. Vignesh had already attempted the test twice, but had performed well enough to get a seat.

Political parties in Tamil Nadu have been up against NEET over the last four years after the suicide of a young woman named Anitha in Ariyalur district.

The state witnessed several protests against the examination and both the ruling and Opposition parties got involved in it. The DMK which has led several agitations against the examination, has alleged that NEET does not allow students from socio-economically backward class to have an equal chance at getting a medical seat.