Dangal sisters Geeta and Babita Phogat mourn the tragic demise of their cousin Ritika Phogat

Indian wrestlers Geeta and Babita Phogat’s cousin Ritika Phogat allegedly committed suicide on Thursday (March 15). Ritik, who is the maternal cousin of the Phogat sisters, allegedly took the drastic step after losing a wrestling tournament final on March 14. She was just 17. The Phogat family is devastated by the tragic demise of Ritika. Both Geeta and Babita Phogat took to their social media handles to offer condolences and mourn the demise of their cousin.

Sharing a picture of her cousin, Geeta took to her Instagram handle and wrote, “भगवान मेरी छोटी बहन मेरे मामा की लड़की रितिका की आत्मा को शांति दे। मेरे परिवार के लिए बहुत ही दुख की घड़ी है। रितिका बहुत ही होनहार पहलवान थी पता नहीं क्यों उसने ऐसा कदम उठाया। हार-जीत खिलाड़ी के जीवन का हिस्सा होता है हमें ऐसा कोई क़दम नहीं उठाना चाहिये . (May the soul of my uncle’s daughter Ritika rest in peace. This is a very challenging time for my family. Ritika was a promising wrestler. I don’t know why she took such step. Winning and losing are part of every wrestlers life. No one should take such steps).”

You can check her post below:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by @geetaphogat

Geeta’s younger sister Babita also shared the same post on her Twitter handle.

भगवान रितिका की आत्मा को शांति दे। यह समय पूरे परिवार के लिए बहुत ही दुख की घड़ी है। आत्महत्या कोई समाधान नहीं है। हार और जीत दोनों जीवन के महत्वपूर्ण पहलू हैं। हारने वाला एक दिन जीतता भी जरूर है। संघर्ष ही सफलता की कुंजी है संघर्षों से घबराकर ऐसा कोई कदम नहीं उठाना चाहिए। pic.twitter.com/ecb4DztyC4

— Babita Phogat (@BabitaPhogat) March 18, 2021

Ritika was competing at level sub-junior, junior women, and men wrestling tournament. Reportedly she lost the final match by just one point and unable to bear the loss she died by suicide. She was a student of the Mahabir Phogat Sports Academy and had trained under Dronacharya Awardee Mahabir Singh Phogat.

The news of Ritika’s death was shared by General Vijay Kumar Singh, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways. “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 that were not there earlier. An essential part of their training should be to deal with these pressures. (sic)” he had tweeted. 

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.

— General Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 18, 2021

For the unversed, Aamir Khan’s blockbuster film Dangal was based on the life of world-class female wrestlers Geeta and Babita. Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra had played Geeta and Babita in the film.

Also Read: Geeta and Babita Phogat’s cousin sister Ritika Phogat reportedly dies by suicide after losing a wrestling match

Pooja Sharma

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