Chandigarh: Indian wrestling fans woke up to a rude shock on Thursday morning with the news of Ritika Phogat’s alleged suicide. She was only 17.
Ritika, who is the cousin of famed wrestling sisters Geeta and Babita Phogat, took the extreme step reportedly after losing at a tournament in Bharatpur, Rajasthan on Wednesday.
Part of the famous Phogat family, Ritika was playing the state-level sub-junior, junior women, and men wrestling tournament. She lost the final, which was played on March 14. Unable to bear the loss, the teenager hung herself to death.
A resident of Jaitpur village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu, Ritika had been learning and practicing wrestling for over five years at the Mahavir Phogat Sports Academy in Haryana.
In a statement, Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri District Superintendent of Police, Ram Singh Bishnoi said investigation into Ritika’s death has started, India Today reported.
“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. Investigation is underway,” the statement read.
Notably, the Phogat sisters and their father Mahavir Singh Phogat shot to fame after Aamir Khan’s 2016 film ‘Dangal’, which became the highest grossing Indian film of all time.
