Rajashree Swain, a 26-year-old Odisha woman cricketer, was discovered hanging from a tree in a deep forest in Cuttack district on Friday (January 13), according to authorities. She was missing since January 11.
The police said that the deceased Rajashree also left a suicide note, in which she alleged mental harassment.
“A case of unnatural death has been registered in the matter. We found her body hanging from a tree in the Gurudijhatia forest in the Athagarh area. We will probe the death from all angles,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Pinak Mishra said.
Rajashree’s family, meanwhile, claimed that she was murdered. “She was murdered since the body exhibited injury marks and her eyes were damaged,” Rajashree’s relatives alleged.
#WomanCricketerDeath: Father of Rajashree Swain alleges that she was murdered and her body was hanged; he pins blame on #Odisha Cricket Association (OCA)
— OTV (@otvnews) January 13, 2023
Further accusing the Cricket Association of Odisha of being prejudiced, her family said that Swain was denied a spot in the team despite outperforming several others who were chosen.
As per reports, the Odisha state team was announced on Tuesday (January 10, 2023) and Rajashree Swain was not selected for the tournament’s 16-woman roster. As per her roommate, she was observed crying when the names of team members were announced on Wednesday evening, and she went away from the hotel where they had all stayed for the training session shortly after.
Rajashree had reportedly told her coach, Pushpanjali Banerjee, that she was going to meet her father at her home in Puri. On Thursday, January 12, when she did not return home and her phone was found switched off, Pushpanjali Banerjee filed a missing person’s report at the Mangalabag police station in Cuttack.
Following this, the police launched an inquiry into the matter. The last known location of Rajashree’s mobile was discovered in the forest during the initial investigation. The cops began searching in the forest based on this information. Meanwhile, the police retrieved Rajashree’s scooty and helmet abandoned near the forest, based on information provided by the locals. Following that, the police conducted searches throughout the forest. Finally, the cops found Rajashree’s body in the forest under the Gurudijhatiya police station area of Cuttack district.
Jayashree, Rajashree’s sister, blamed the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) administrators and coach for Rajashree’s untimely death. Jayshree stated that Rajashree had called her on January 10th and was sobbing because she had not been selected for the Odisha team. When Jayashree congratulated Rajashree on her incredible performance, the latter complained that the Cricket Association was biased against her.
Jayashree alleged that her sister was in acute distress and had told her though she had performed well, she could not make it to the final list due to alleged unfair means adopted in the selection procedure by the OCA.
Speaking to the media, Rajashree’s mother said, “She had come to Cuttack for a selection camp. She was living at Palace Hotel. After 10 days of selection camp, she was intentionally excluded from the final team although she was the best player. She was under stress and had called up her sister. She informed that she was not included in the team despite being an all-rounder.”
“My daughter has been missing since then. But, they (the camp organisers) did not inform us anything. When we contacted them they claimed that Rajashree has gone missing,” her mother added.
Meanwhile, Rajashree’s father Gunanidhi also raised questions about how his daughter could reach the dense forest area, which is a habitation for elephants, and nearly 30 km away from the hotel where she was staying along with her teammates. He alleged that his daughter was killed and then hung to give an impression of suicide. “The OCA authorities have killed my daughter and hung her body from the tree inside the forest to suppress their wrongdoings,” alleged Gunanidhi.
Cricketer Rajashree Swain death: #Odisha Cricket Association CEO, Subrat Behera says
— OTV (@otvnews) January 13, 2023
-No irregularities in selection
-Selection committee in charge
-No one else has any role
-Players better than Rajashree selected
-Whatever happened is really sad
-No one should take such step
Subrat Behera, the CEO of the association, while expressing shock over the demise of the cricketer, refuted the family’s claims saying that the selection was done in a very transparent manner. “If there was prejudice, how did she find a place in the 25-member probable team, which attended the camp,” Behera added.
