Hyderabad, November 05: S Amaravathi, a boxer, who represented the State at the national level, was found dead in her room at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP)’s Centre of Excellence hostel at the LB Stadium here on Wednesday.
Her family members accused her coach, Omkar Nath Yadav, of humiliating her and driving her to suicide following her failure at a recent national championship. He denied the charge. Police said the cause of her death was yet to be ascertained.
Neither sleeping pills nor a poison bottle was found in her room. No suicide note was found either. SAAP and the Government said an inquiry would be ordered.
The 21-year-old boxer, a resident of Chintal Basti in the city, was a tough but sensitive woman, say her siblings. Born into a poor family, Amaravathi had discontinued her education in Class VII itself and sought glory in the ring. Shankar Sai Baba, her brother, recalled: ‘‘Five years ago, she expressed her desire to us. But boxing is tough and we said no. We feared any injuries on her face would make marriage difficult. But she was keen on it and we had to give in.’’ Her father, Kantaiah, a Class IV employee in the King Koti Hospital passed away during her childhood.
Her mother Lakshmi, who got the job on compassionate grounds, raised the kids –– four daughters and two sons. Amaravathi was the youngest of the four girls.
Amaravathi had been staying in the hostel for the past three years.
The staff there and SAAP officials offer a different view of the unfortunate boxer. ‘‘Though tough on the surface, she was a sensitive girl and a loner,’’ they said.
‘‘Amaravathi used to touch my feet before practice sessions or championships,’’ SAAP vice-chairman and managing director V Radha said. The reason for her isolation was perhaps her background.
‘‘Other players from different fields are from well-off families and highly educated. There are volleyball players who are all MBA and MCA graduates. Amaravathi had only appeared for SSC after earlier discontinuing her education,’’ a hostel staff member pointed out.
Fellow boxers, who visited the hostel after Amaravathi’s sudden death, said it was common for coaches to be harsh. ‘‘They do it to infuse fear in us so that we can perform better,’’ said Avinash Kumar who represented the State in international events. Amaravathi’s coach reportedly told her that it was a waste of money to provide her food at the hostel.
—Agencies