Ritika Phogat allegedly takes her own life after losing a match

The 17-year-old was playing in a wrestling tournament.

The cousin sister of the country’s wrestling icons Geeta and Babita, Ritika Phogat allegedly took her own life by committing suicide. As per early reports, It is believed that she took this step after losing a sub-junior final in Bharatpur on Wednesday.

The Phogat family wrestler was playing the state-level sub-junior, junior women and men wrestling tournament. She played well but lost the final by just one point. She reportedly hung herself to death after not being able to bear the disappointment of the loss.

Ritika Phogat hailed from a small village in Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan and was practicing wrestling at the Mahavir Phogat Sports Academy in Haryana for more than five years.

Haryana's Charkhi Dadri District Superintendent of Police Ram Singh Bishnoi released a statement. He said, "Ritika Phogat, 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."

VK Singh expressed grief over the death of the athlete

Former army chief and Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, General VK Singh was the first one to share this unfortunate news on Twitter as he posted, “Terrible news that we lost #RitikaPhogat who had a brilliant career ahead. The world has changed from where it was some decades ago. Athletes are facing pressures which were not there earlier. An essential part of their training should be to deal with these pressures."

The Phogat family is well-known family in the Indian sports circuit. The members of the family have won several accolades at the national and international level.

Mahavir Singh Phogat was an amateur wrestler in his younger days and his eldest daughter Geeta won the Gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She was also the first women wrestler from India to have qualified for the Olympics.

Babita Phogat, the second eldest daughter of the family has also brought pride to the nation with her dedication and hard-work by winning a silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, bronze at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, and followed it up with a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The family rose to fame after Aamir Khan starrer ‘Dangal’ movie became the highest grossing Indian film of all-time back in 2016. They have not issued any statements regarding the death of Ritika at the time of writing.

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