Ritika Phogat, the cousin of Commonwealth Games gold medallists Geeta and Babita Phogat, has died, a tweet by one of the famous Phogat sisters confirmed on Thursday. Ritika, 17, had returned home after competing in a wrestling tournament in Bharatpur last week. The young wrestler committed suicide by hanging herself to a ceiling fan on the night of March 15 after she was defeated in a match a day before her death.
Haryana police on Thursday has confirmed the news of Ritika’s death and have started a probe into the case, said DSP Ram Singh Bishnoi.
He added, "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 underway.”
17-year-old Ritika had participated in the state-level sub-junior, junior women, and men wrestling tournament at the Lohagarh Stadium in Bharatpur. She lost the final round by 1 point and then decided to take her life, unable to take the loss, DSP said.
"Rest in Peace choti behen Ritika. I still can't believe what just happened with you. Will miss you forever Broken heart... Om Shanti," tweeted Ritu Phogat, the mixed martial arts fighter who is the younger sister of Geeta and Babita and a cousin of Ritika on their mother's side.
"I have been getting messages all morning today. I am very sad and disturbed about what happened in my family. I urge people to not spread and believe in any rumours and act responsibly.
"These are tough times for me and my family and I urge you all to respect our privacy," Ritu said in another tweet.
Ritika is Geeta and Babita’s maternal cousin. She was trained under Dronacharya Awardee Mahavir Singh Phogat, who was also reportedly present at the tournament. A resident of Jaitpur village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu, Ritika had been learning and practising wrestling for over five years at the Mahavir Phogat Sports Academy in Haryana.
Mahavir Phogat was an amateur wrestler himself while his eldest daughter, Geeta, is a freestyle wrestler who got the first-ever gold medal in wrestling for India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and also the first-ever Indian woman wrestler to have qualified for the Olympics (2012 London Games).
Bollywood actor, Aamir Khan had even dedicated a blockbuster film Dangal to the struggles and achievements of the Phogat siblings, which received accolades from the audience and critics.