Odisha: Missing woman cricketer Rajashree Swain found hanging
Odisha: Missing woman cricketer Rajashree Swain found hanging
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Cuttack: Rajasree Swain, a woman cricketer who had been missing since January 11, was discovered hanging from a tree in a forest under the Gurudijhatia police limits in Odisha's Cuttack district on Friday. Though the cause of her death remains unknown, she was allegedly furious about not making the Odisha women's team's 16-member probables. On January 10, the Odisha team was announced. According to police sources, the 26-year-old has been staying in a hotel on Bajrakabati Road with 24 other women cricketers since January 2 and has participated in a practice-cum-training camp organized by the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) for the selection of the state team in an upcoming national-level cricket tournament scheduled to be held in Puducherry. She checked out of the hotel on Wednesday, a day after not making the final selection, and told Odisha women's coach Pushpanjali Banerjee that she was heading to Puri to meet her father, while selected players were practicing at a cricket field in Tangi. Banerjee filed a complaint at Mangalabag police station in Cuttack when she did not return home and her phone was found switched off. Locals who had gone to collect firewood discovered a scooterette and helmet on the Bramhanabast-Kapursingh forest road and reported it to Mangalabag police. Last night, a team of police officers raced to the scene and began searching for her. She was later discovered hanging from a tree with the assistance of her dupatta (scarf). "We will question her roommate, who was chosen for the team, and the CCTV footage will be checked," Cuttack ACP Amitav Mohapatra said. Her father and sister, on the other hand, said she was murdered and her body was later hanged to create the appearance of suicide. They also blamed the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) and her coach for her death, claiming that she was purposefully left out of the team. "The OCA authorities killed my daughter to cover up their wrongdoings," her father Gunanidhi claimed. Among the allegations of foul play, her body was discovered in a woodland with damage marks on her head and eyelid, according to reports. Rajasree was a right-arm fast medium bowler who batted right.
