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‘She seemed happy when she called’: SAI hostel suicide victim’s father
Two girls, state-level athletes, were found dead in a SAI hostel in Kerala. Police suspect suicide; families await details as investigations continue.
“If there was anything going on in the SAI hostel that bothered my daughter, she would have told me. That’s what shocks me,” said the father of one of the two girls, who were found dead at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel in Kerala’s Kollam, adding she had phoned a few hours prior to her death.
The class X student, a resident of Thiruvananthapuram, along with a class XII student, a resident of Kozhikode, were found in the same hostel room inside the SAI campus early Thursday. Police found handwritten notes from their pockets, deducing that their deaths were by suicide.
The father, whose deceased daughter was a state-level kabbadi player and got selected to SAI one-and-a-half years ago, expressed disbelief at the possibility of her taking such an extreme step.
“On the day prior to her death, she had a kabaddi match in Kalluvathukkal which her team won. She was quite happy. She wanted to celebrate the win with milkshakes with her teammates, and I had sent her some money. After reaching the hostel, she had phoned us on our landline and spoke quite normally. She did not say anything that would suggest that she was in any mental trauma,” the father, who runs a roadside food cart, told HT over the phone.
“What could have happened in the span of a few hours post that phone call that compelled her to take such a step? I cannot believe it,” he added.
The father said that he has not seen the alleged suicide note of his daughter. “I was told by the police that she had asked for forgiveness from her parents in the note. She also said something about the warden. I don’t have more details,” he said.
The family said that it has not been able to speak to SAI officials or the police regarding the deaths of the two sports trainees.
The Kollam East Police have registered a case of unnatural death and launched an investigation. Results of the autopsies would indicate the reasons behind the two deaths.
On the directions of the police, five counsellors reached the SAI hostel on Friday and took statements from the residents.
