A 15-year-old sportsperson died early on Thursday and three others, all undergoing training at Water Sports Centre of Sports Authority of India (SAI) here have been hospitalised, after they ate a poisonous fruit in an apparent suicide pact following alleged harassment by seniors.
The girls are suspected to have eaten the fruit, locally called ‘Othalanga’, around 3 pm yesterday inside the SAI women’s hostel. They were rushed to a hospital around 7 pm after they fainted and were later taken to the Alapuzha Medical College, where one of them died, the police said.
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The girls were undergoing training at the Water Sports Centre of the SAI at nearby Punnamada.
Relatives of the athletes alleged the girls were being physically and mentally tortured by seniors.
However, the hostel warden denied the charges and said they came to know about the girls’ condition only after they fainted. “None in the hostel tortured them,” she said.
Angry relatives of the girl who died have demanded immediate inquiry and have also threatened to block the national highway and not perform her last rites.