New Delhi: Sheikh Jafar Hussain and his wife Habib-un-Nisaa Sheikh made sure to reach Delhi in time for Cockroach Janta Party’s mass sit-in protests. They are not professors, they are not students, they are not activists and neither are they associated with any political party.In fact, the couple is in mourning. They are grieving the loss of their 19-year-old daughter Sana Sheikh, whom they lost to suicide on June 20, a day before the NEET re-examination.Sana, a medical aspirant, was found dead in an apartment in Hyderabad, in what police said was a case of suicide. According to police, a note was found at the spot in which she wrote, “No one is responsible for my death. I am taking my life.”Sana SheikhInvestigators believe that academic stress, pressure to perform and previous examination setbacks may have contributed to her decision, the publication reported. Police said that Sana had appeared for NEET last year but was unsuccessful in clearing the examination.She subsequently enrolled in long-term coaching and gave the test again last month. According to police, she had completed her intermediate with a score over 90%. She was preparing for the NEET re-examination scheduled for June 21.More than a dozen aspirants scheduled to appear for the June 21 NEET re-examination have reportedly died by suicide in days leading to the exam. Sana’s death adds to a tragic sequence of student suicides reported across the country, as aspirants are driven to the brink by the intense pressure, anxiety and uncertainty caused by institutional corruption.The family shared a copy of her suicide note with The Wire. The 700-word note starts with “No one is responsible for my death. I am taking my life”. It is filled with Sana repeatedly expressing intense anxiety, examination-related pressure, an overwhelming fear of failure and the deep burden of meeting expectations.Having poured her heart into a second attempt since 2025, her own words reveal a spirit crushed by a compromised, unfair exam cycle.The family and those who have reached out to them since the tragedy believe that despite her brilliance – seen also in the 980/1000 marks Sana scored in the intermediate tests – the system made her feel worthless over a fluctuating percentile score.Mourning his own loss and the loss of other students to the mishandled NEET exams, Sana’s father Sheikh Jafar felt it was his duty to support those raising their voice for those who died owing to the NTA.Habib-un-Nisaa has pain laced with countless questions writ on her face.“I didn’t just go to Jantar Mantar for my daughter; I went there for all the 23 students who committed suicide. The protesters who are demonstrating their anger there peacefully are there for our children too. They might have never known those who died, but they are standing there,” she told The Wire.The couple has two other school-going daughters. Their mother says it was far easier for her to visit Jantar Mantar but is clueless about how to deal with her grieving children.“I am yet to process my own pain. NTA is quick to order retests after their own mistakes of paper leaks. As voters, shouldn’t we get a re-vote too, when the government falters? They are making wrong decisions which are killing so many students … how many more do they want to kill,” says the bereaved mother.“Children are under such pressure that they wilt. Why is no one asking the government questions? If they cannot run the government, they must be voted out,” she says angrily.