The body of the 19-year-old National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) aspirant, who ended her life, was cremated on Friday night.S. Gopika, a resident of Vellalapuram near Chinnappampatti who prepared for the NEET exam for the third time, attempted to end her life on Friday and was admitted to Salem Government Hospital where she died in the afternoon. Various political party functionaries came to the hospital and expressed their condolences.The cadre of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged a demonstration in front of the hospital on Friday night and urged the Union Government to scrap NEET exam. More than 50 policemen were deployed in the hospital.The doctors performed a postmortem at around 10.15 p.m. and handed over the body to the family members. They took the body to the burial ground at Johnsonpet and cremated it in the night itself.On Saturday, DMK functionaries led by former Minister R. Rajendran and Salem MP T.M. Selvaganapathi visited the girl’s house and handed over ₹1 lakh to the parents on behalf of the party.(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416, and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050).Ends. Published - June 20, 2026 05:31 pm IST