Basketball player’s ‘suicide’: Rly coach booked for abetment, Kerala CM writes to Nitish

The body of Lithara KC, a basketball player, who was posted at Danapur rail division in accounts section, was found hanging at her flat at Gandhi Nagar area of Patna on Tuesday. A suicide note written in Malayalam was also found in her room.

The Patna police Friday registered a case of abetment to suicide against an East Central Railway official, also a basketball coach, in connection with the suicide of a 23-year-old national level basketball player, hailing from Kerala, in Bihar’s capital earlier this week, police officials said, even as Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar seeking a comprehensive inquiry into the matter.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. (ANI)

The body of Lithara KC, a basketball player, who was posted at Danapur rail division in accounts section, was found hanging at her flat at Gandhi Nagar area of Patna on Tuesday. A suicide note written in Malayalam was also found in her room.

Lithara was honoured by the East Central Railway on the International Women’s Day this year.

Her maternal uncle Rajeevan CP, in his complaint, alleged that she killed herself as her coach Ravi Singh had been mentally and sexually harassing her. Her family members alleged that during a tournament in Kolkata, Ravi Singh touched her inappropriately and thereafter she beat him for that. After the incident, she skipped training sessions and matches. Later, Ravi Singh filed a complaint against her with senior officials that she was regularly absent from coaching sessions.

After her death, Lithara’s parents had written letters to CMs of Kerala and Bihar, seeking a thorough investigation.

“Despite our request, her autopsy was over by the time we reached there. The day before her death, Lithara had spoken to her parents for about 1.46 minutes,” Rajeevan said.

Niraj Kumar, station house officer of Rajeev Nagar police station in Patna where the case has been lodged, said police are probing all angles.

Meanwhile, Lithara’s body was brought to her native place in Kozhikode district on Thursday for cremation.

“Her relatives told me that existing circumstances could have led to her ‘suicide.’ They requested for a thorough probe and I request you to give directions for a comprehensive and fair investigation which can address apprehensions of their relatives,” Kerala CM said in the letter to his Bihar counterpart.

According to Lithara’s relatives, she was a member of the Kerala team that won Federation Cup in 2018 and later she was recruited into railways through sports quota and appointed in the East Central Railway.

(Suicide is no solution to any problem. If you have any problem seek the help of mental health expert to overcome the problem. Helpline 1056, 0471-2552056).