DNA Special: How wrestler Ritika Phogat's suicide highlights mental health issues

In a shocking news, wrestler Ritika Phogat, the cousin sister of wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat, allegedly committed suicide on Thursday (March 18) after she allegedly failed to win the final of a wrestling tournament. Ritika, 17, was playing the state-level sub-junior, junior women, and men wrestling tournament. It is learnt that Ritika lost the final on March 14 by just 1 point.

She hung herself to death after failing to bear the loss. Ritika had trained under Dronacharya Awardee Mahavir Singh Phogat. Ritika hailed from Jaitpur village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu and she was undergoing training as a wrestler since 2015 at the Mahavir Phogat Sports Academy in Haryana.

However, just like wrestling, Ritika's story has some twists and turns.
While it is being alleged that Ritika committed suicide because she was very disappointed after failing to win, the other aspect that is now coming to the fore is Ritika had actually won the match. 

Let us bring to you this in 5 points:
 
1) Ritika was disappointed because of the defeat in the competition.
2) She could have been shocked that the result wasn't in her favour.
3) She was upset with her uncle Mahavir Phogat because of the loss.
4) If there was no dispute over the outcome of the match, why was there a commotion?
5) The 17-year-old wrestler spent most of his life learning the nuances of wrestling, then how can be so shattered with one defeat.

However, today we want to tell you here that committing suicide is never a solution to any problem and one should try to look for a solution instead of taking such a harsh step.

Ritika was only 17 years old but her dreams were huge. She wanted to win the Olympic gold for the nation.

Now, the last competition that she participated in is in question.

1) What was Ritika unhappy about?

Charkhi Dadri District Superintendent of Police Ram Singh Bishnoi said, "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."

2) Was Ritika deliberately defeated?

When Zee News started reviting all the pages of this story, we learned what exactly happened there. Many present there have said that Ritika was unfairly defeated.

3) Did Ritika talk to her family about it?

The family of Ritika lives in Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. Ritika had arrived at Mahavir Phogat's academy 5 years ago.Her family says that Mahavir Phogat had assured him that Ritika would play for the country. Today, when our team arrived at Ritika's house, they told us that they had no knowledge of what was going on after that match in the mind of Ritika and they are all shocked by the death.

4) Was Ritika not happy at Charkhi Dadri away from the family?

Ritika was away from her family for 5 years. That means she was 12 years old when she had come to Haryana to learn wrestling. And now she is no more. When our team reached Mahavir Phogat's Academy, we did not find anyone there.

What is most important in this whole case is that Ritika was disappointed about her defeat. There was a lot of commotion about the outcome and it is a matter of investigation whether the results were influenced or changed.

Let us understand what causes celebrities to be depressed in spite of having all the name, fame, money. The fact is that a celebrity always lives a life of pressure - performance pressure and that has a huge impact on them.

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death had shaken Bollywood and brought to the fore the ugly side of stardom.

According to the World Health Organization, 60 million people in India are victims of depression h and 40 million people have anxiety disorders. In India, 37 per cent of suicides are due to relationships.

-On an average, more than 1,35,000 people commit suicide every year in our country.
-While the number of Indians dying in road accidents is 1,50,000.
-400 people are killed in terrorist and naxal attacks last year.
-The most miserable thing in India is the suicide figures of the youth.
-33 per cent of those who commit suicide in India are between 30 and 45 years of age.
-While about 32 per cent of people are between 18 and 30 years of age.

This means that the desire to survive or live with vivacity has decreased. India is the first number among South Asian countries in the case of suicides.

-India is among the top 25 countries all over the world in case of suicide deaths.
India is 19th in the list. While ranking India's neighbouring countries are faring better than us.
-The first place in the list after India is Sri Lanka which is at the 31st.
-China is ranked 103. That means, the incidents of suicides are much less than that of India.