Studies have shown a correlation between test anxiety and mental well-being, but one student went too far to avoid test stress, according to the Indian Express.
“A man has been caught allegedly impersonating his girlfriend during a recruitment examination held by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences in Punjab’s Faridkot district, after officials found that his biometric details did not match with those of the original candidate,” said the report.
Citing police, it said a 26-year-old man named Angrez Singh came to the DAV Public School exam hall in Kotkapura on Jan. 7 wearing a salwar kameez – a pants and dress combination often worn by South Asian women – as well as a stole and a cap. He had also shaved off his facial hair and applied makeup.
At the exam hall, people were gathered to take the entrance exam for a female multipurpose health worker post. Singh allegedly put his own photo over that of Paramjeet Kaur, 34, identified in the Indian Express report as his girlfriend. It also said she had previously failed the exam.
“The candidate managed to enter the examination hall. However, the officials got suspicious as the picture of Paramjeet Kaur on the application form was not matching with the face of the candidate in question. Later biometrics were done and they didn’t match with the ones kept in the records. It was found that a boy named Angrez Singh had impersonated Kaur. He had even got a fake Aadhaar card, voter card and I card made in the name of Paramjeet Kaur,” Faridkot SSP Harjeet Singh told the outlet.
Singh said he was a relative of Kaur, but authorities determined that they are not. He was sent home and the following day Dr. Deepak Bhatti, registrar of BFUHS, “lodged an FIR under IPC section 419 (impersonation) against Singh,” and Kaur was co-accused. Singh was arrested and released on bail.
Going forward, an investigation into fake identity cards at the university is expected.
According to the International Center for Academic Integrity, studies show that more than 60% of university students freely admit to cheating in some form. However, the “getting someone else to do your academic work,” category had a low rate of just 2%.