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VP Sathyan commits suicide
Sathyan, a talented deep defender, who was also captain of the Indian team some years ago, committed suicide by throwing himself under a train.
Former India football captain V P Sathyan committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train in Chennai on Tuesday morning. He was 40 and is survived by wife and a 10-year-old daughter.
Police recovered a note written in English from his pocket, in which addressing his wife, Sathyan said he was unable to continue because he was in a financial crisis and had also developed drinking and gambling problems.
"I don't want to live in this world anymore," Sathyan wrote. "I wanted to see you for the last time. But had I done so, I would have changed my decision to end my life. Forgive me. I am leaving this world. The decision is entirely mine."
Sathyan also said he had enjoyed a lot of respect and admiration in society as long as he was a footballer, but at present, he had lost everything due to his bad habits.
He flung himself under a suburban train travelling from the Madras Beach to Tambaram near the Pallavaram station. His body was taken to a nearby government hospital before being shifted to Chrompet for postmortem. Sathyan will be cremated in Kannur in Kerala where his parents live.
After helping his state win the Santosh Trophy, he enjoyed a successful club career with Kerala Police and played for Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting later.
He was a regular in the national side in that period and also a member of the squad, which lost in the Merdeka Cup semi-final in 1985 - one of India's very few remarkable performances after the Asian Games bronze in 1972.
