A teenage swimmer and champion of the CBSE National Games killed herself by hanging in her house at Govindpuram in Ghaziabad on Monday. Reports said 16-year-old Saira Sirohi took the extreme step while her younger sister was sleeping in the same room.
Although the exact reason behind her death remains unclear, certain media reports said that Saria was worried about the half-yearly exams she had missed. According to a national daily she had missed some papers in the exam in November as she was participating in a championship.
"She had been telling me she won't come for training for more than a month because she was afraid her school would fail her in her exams," her coach Raju Chaudhary was quoted as saying.
However, another paper reported that Saira was disturbed as she was unable to attend school for several days recently as she could not pay her transport fees of Rs 45,000. “Since I did not have the money, I told her to stay home until our situation improved. It was only a few days ago that the school allowed her to attend school,” Saira's father Jaideep Sirohi, a former constable with Uttar Pradesh police, was quoted by the paper.
However, her family says there was nothing unusual in her behaviour. Her 11-year-old sister said when she went to sleep, Saira was playing a game on her phone. She found Saira hanging when she woke up in the midnight.
A Class XI student, Saira had won gold medals in 100 small and big swimming competitions.
