Kerala: 4 female athletes attempts suicide, 1 dead
A 16-year-old girl athlete died on Thursday and three of her colleagues were battling for survival after they consumed a poisonous fruit in what appears to have been a suicide pact at a water sports facility run by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Kerala.
Police in Alappuzha said they have recovered a “note signed by the four” which says they were committing suicide after being “scolded” by their seniors for a “silly fault”.
The dead athlete was identified as Aparna Ramabhadra, from Aryad in Alappuzha, who had participated as a rower in several national competitions. The other three, all 16 years olds, have been identified as Treesa Jacob, Sabitha Santosh and Shilpa K R. Treesa who won gold in kayaking at the recently-held National Games in Kerala.
Police said all four were undergoing training at the SAI Water Sports Centre in Alappuzha, and were hospitalised on Wednesday night —Aparna died on Thursday.
A relative of Aparna alleged that the athletes committed suicide after they were “tortured” by their coaches, but the charge was denied by SAI and police.
Alappuzha SP K K Balachandran said investigations have revealed that the “silly fault” referred to in the “note” was an incident last week in which the four had allegedly consumed beer. “A few seniors, all women athletes, had taunted them. This seems to have prompted the athletes to consume the poisonous fruit, locally known as othalanga. There was no case of torture from any quarters as alleged by the girls’ relatives and others,’’ said Balachandran.
Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said he had directed SAI’s director-general Injeti Srinivas to “rush to the spot” and submit a “factual report”. “If anyone from SAI is found guilty in connection with this tragic incident, strictest possible action will be taken,” Sonowal said.
Srinivas termed the incident as the “most shocking… in the history of SAI” and said he would submit his report to the Sports Minister “in a day”. He added that he had not received “any negative feedback about any of the SAI employees” when he visited the Alappuzha centre a fortnight ago.
”We are faced with the most tragic and shocking incident of four girl trainees attempting suicide. Unfortunately, one of them succumbed to the poisonous substance. It is the most shocking incident in the history of SAI. Now, the immediate focus is on ensuring that the best possible medical attention is given to the three girls,” Srinivas said.
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Source:Theindianexpress
