In a report submitted by SAI director-general Injeti Srinivas to the sports ministry, the prima facie inquiry has failed to establish any "foul play" in the suicide attempt by four teenagers who were training at SAI's Water Sports Centre in Alappuzha.
Barely a week after a teenage athlete committed suicide in a Sports Authority of India-run centre in Kerala's Alappuzha district, the government body has given a clean chit to the hostelites as well as warden Sreekala S.
The incident resulted in the death of champion rower Aparna Ramabhadran (15) and the hospitalisation of three other female athletes. In a report submitted by SAI director-general Injeti Srinivas to the sports ministry, the prima facie inquiry has failed to establish any "foul play" in the suicide attempt by four teenagers who were training at SAI's Water Sports Centre in Alappuzha.
"The inquiry has ruled out the ragging and torture angle by senior girls," a senior ministry official told dna on Tuesday, adding, "SAI DG spoke to several senior hostelites and he could not establish the harassment angle as has been alleged by Aparna's parents and the relatives of the other athletes. The investigation into the conduct of the warden has also not revealed anything substantial."
In fact, the report has discussed the circumstances under which the four young girls took such an extreme step. "All four girls allegedly consumed alcohol (beer) at a wedding function four or five days prior to entering the suicide pact. Some of their seniors came to know about it and they advised them not to consume alcohol in future. The seniors were not exactly found to be harassing them. Later, when the warden came to know about it, she scolded the four girls and threatened to inform their parents. She was actually acting like a 'mother' to them, discouraging them from taking the wrong path and instead reminding them to achieve success in sports," the report added.
The instance, thus, has been viewed by the SAI as an "individual incident".
Police report awaited
It has been reliably learnt that the SAI DG has refrained from drawing up any conclusion as the matter is still under police investigation.
"The police investigation will have the last say. They are investigating the allegations of torture by seniors levelled by family members and relatives," said the official. But the report has suggested the need to set up grievance redressal cells along with 24x7 anti-sexual harassment helplines for its trainees and other athletes. As reported by dna, the report has further suggested the need to constitute an advisory board headed by eminent sportspersons and coaches to help athletes overcome physical and mental trauma, besides appointing psychologists and counsellors at its 75 training centres and Special Area Games (SAG) units.
Social stigma
The report has discussed how the four girls, who are all from poor families, were afraid of being expelled from the centre. "The families of all four have been relying on whatever these four girls were earning by winning medals. Aparna's family lives in a hutment and her father doesn't earn. The mere prospect of being thrown out of the hostel weighed heavily on their minds and that could have possibly led to the suicide pact. They were afraid of going back to the same poverty-stricken society. They were getting every facility in the SAI hostel and they didn't want to leave the place," the SAI DG observed.
However, the report has also mentioned that the warden and coaches in Alappuzha have been warned to be deal with junior athletes, especially girls, carefully. "The job of the warden and coaches is to act more as a counsellor. Scolding them should not be the option as adolescent girls need to be protected and guided in a more careful manner," Srinivas has observed.
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