Assam govt to enquire into Pratima's death: Gogoi

Kashmir Times. Dated: 5/6/2013 2:04:56 PM

GUWAHATI, May 5(Agencies): Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that an enquiry would be conducted into the alleged suicide by international archer Pratima Boro during the ongoing national team selection camp in Pune.
Gogoi said not only the state but the country had lost an outstanding archer.
A special team of Assam Police would conduct the investigations into the 22-year-old archer's death, official sources said.
Pratima's body was brought to the state yesterday and received at the Lokopriyo Gopinath Borodoloi International Airport here by senior officials of the sports department and Northeast Frontier Railway where she was an employee.
Later her body was taken to Malouguri village in Fakiragram area of Kokrajhar district where her father had demanded a second post-mortem.
A hopeful for the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janerio, 23-year-old Pratima allegedly committed suicide on Friday by hanging herself from the ceiling fan in her room at the Army Sports Institute (ASI).
Pratima was training at the ASI as part of the national camp.
She had represented the Indian team in several international championships and had won a gold medal in the Asian Grand Prix Championships at Seoul in 2008.
The national archery camp, in progress at the Army Sports Institute (ASI), Pune, was rocked on Friday by the death of 23-year-old archer Pratima Boro. Boro allegedly committed suicide at the ASI hostel by hanging herself from the ceiling fan in her room.
Boro, who hailed from Assam, was part of the Indian recurve team for the World Cup Stage IV in Shanghai in 2009 and was also a member of the World Cup team that year. Boro represented the Railway Sports Promotion Board, attached to the North-east Frontier Railway.
"The police control room was appraised of the situation at around 1 pm. She (Boro) was found hanging in her room. No suicide note has yet been found. We have spoken to people in the Institute and it seems that she took the extreme step due to family problems. We are yet to get a confirmation on this," said senior police inspector Vishwanath Ghanawat.
Police sub-inspector Arun Ghodake, who is probing the case, said, "We have come to know that she did not attend the morning practice session after breakfast. When her teammates went to her hostel room, the door was locked from inside. They broke open the door to find her hanging from the ceiling fan with two bedsheets."
A post-mortem was performed on her on Friday night. Ghodake said that Boro's father had been notified and that he would arrive in Pune on Saturday. Col RS Bishnoi, ASI commandant, was unavailable for comment.
Boro's teammates and coaches were in a state of shock after hearing news of her death. "We are all upset. She looked OK during the six o clock practice today, but complained that she was not feeling well, so she was allowed to miss the 9 am practice. I don't know what happened after that. It has upset everybody here," said recurve archer Dola Banerjee.

 

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