The police said Ritika Phogat, 17, was upset at narrowly losing a wrestling tournament final.
New Delhi:
Ritika Phogat, a cousin of champion wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat, died on Monday, allegedly by suicide, the Haryana police said on Thursday.
The police said Ritika Phogat, 17, was upset at narrowly losing a wrestling tournament final. She participated in a state-level competition at Bharatpur between March 12 and 14.
She was found dead at the home of her uncle, legendary wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat. According to the police, she had been depressed about losing the final by one point. Both her father and Mahavir Phogat had been present at the tournament.
“Ritika, wrestler and cousin of Babita Phogat, died allegedly by suicide on March 17. The reason behind it might have been her defeat at a recent wrestling tournament in Rajasthan. Investigations are underway,” Ram Singh Bishnoi, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Charkhi Dadri, told news agency ANI.
The teen’s cousin Harvindra Phogat said the family is in shock and had never realized how deeply she had been affected by the loss.
Ritika Phogat had reportedly trained with Mahavir Singh Phogat, a Dronacharya award-winning wrestler. Mahavir Phogat’s life and the story of how he trained daughters Geeta and Babita inspired the 2016 Aamir Khan blockbuster “Dangal”. He now runs the Mahavir Phogat Sports Academy, where Ritika was a student.
Geeta Phogat won India’s first ever gold medal in wrestling at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and became the first Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Olympics in 2012. Her sister Babita won silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a bronze at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships and a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.