Her death comes merely weeks after she had broken state- level record of covering 50 metres in 35.83 seconds at the CBSE National Swimming Championship in November 2015, a moment which had further boosted her dream of representing India at international forums.
Sixteen-year-old Saira Sirohi, who had shot to fame at the age of eight when she swam non-stop for nearly 38 kms, allegedly committed suicide on Monday at her residence in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district.
Saira, who had more than 200 medals under her belt and was all set to participate in the next Asian Games, was found hanging by a shawl from a ventilator located above a door in her room.
Her death comes merely weeks after she had broken state- level record of covering 50 metres in 35.83 seconds at the CBSE National Swimming Championship in November 2015, a moment which had further boosted her dream of representing India at international forums.
Saira’s dreams crashed when her younger sister, Vibhu, woke up for a glass of water around 1.30am to see her sister hanging.
“Among our four daughters, Saira was the most loved. There was something about her which made everyone love her. The talent which she possessed has always made us proud. I even took pre-mature retirement from my job so that I could travel with her on her tours,” said Jaideep Sirohi, Saira’s father who now works part time as an electrician after retiring from the Uttar Pradesh Police in 2013.
Saira’s coach Raju Chowdhary said that all that the 16-year-old thought about was “swimming faster”. “We had so many dreams for her,” said Chowdhary who has been training Saira for the last nine years.
Her friend Abisha said that she found it hard to believe that Saira had taken her life. “She was such a jolly person, always smiling. I met her few days ago and she seemed to be perfectly normal,” Abisha said while her mother added that Saira was one of the most pleasant girls she had ever met.
While police have initiated a probe into the death, those who knew the deceased teenager said they can’t think of a possible reason behind the extreme step taken by their daughter.
However dna learnt that the girl was recently told to leave class after her family didn’t pay the transportation demanded by the Delhi Public School where she had been enrolled since class 5th.
Saira’s parents told dna that tuition and transportation fee for had been waived off by the former principal of the school until a month back when her father Jaideep Sirohi received a phone call from her.
“After her achievements, many schools requested us to enrol Saira with them but we chose DPS. We never paid any fee but last month she told me that the school principal was asking her to pay 45,000 as transportation fee. She said if we don’t pay in time, we will have to shell out a fine of 50 rupees per day,” Jaideep.
Saira’s coach told dna that she was even told to leave the class once but the matter was resolved.
Saira even stopped going to school for a few weeks but the matter was resolved after the principal told her parents that she can appear for her examinations.
However, about two weeks ago she called her coach to tell him that she won’t be practising till March due to her examinations.
“She told me that the teachers have said that if she fails she will be rusticated,” the coach said.
Jyoti Gupta, the principal of Saira’s school denied the allegations. “There was a typographical error due to which she was told to pay the fee but the matter was cleared and the fee waived. She was a bright student and we were proud to have her here,” Jyoti said.
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