Five women in Kerala have been arrested after they allegedly forced girls who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in Kollam district to take off their inner wear in order to be allowed to write the examination.

Based on the complaint of the father of one of the girls who appeared for the medical entrance test, the Kerala police had registered an FIR against the accused. Three of the women who were arrested are reportedly employees of an agency hired by the National Testing Agency (NTA) that conducts NEET and the other two work for the exam centre at Ayur in Kollam. “They asked us to remove our bra and put it on a table. All the bras were bunched together. We didn’t even know if we would get ours back when we returned,” said a girl who went through the traumatic experience.

Earlier, the National Testing Agency had denied the allegations and claimed that the complaint was “fictitious.” A case was later registered under 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).