Kerala: Two sports trainees found hanging in hostel, probe launched
Kollam (Kerala) (PTI): Two teenage girl athletes, both trainees staying at a SAI hostel, were found dead in one of their rooms on Thursday in an apparent suicide pact, the police said.
The deceased were identified as Sandra A (18) of Chaliyam in Kozhikode district and Vyshnavi V(15) of Muthakkal in Thiruvananthapuram district.
According to police, Sandra was an athletics trainee studying in Plus Two, while Vyshnavi was a kabaddi player and a Class 10 student.
The incident came to light around 5 am when fellow hostel inmates noticed that the duo had not reported for the morning training session.
When repeated knocks on the door went unanswered, hostel authorities broke open the door and found both girls hanging from ceiling fans in the room, police said.
Police said Vyshnavi was staying in a different room but had spent Wednesday night in Sandra’s room. Both were seen by other hostel inmates before 12.30 am, police added.
An FIR was registered based on the complaint of SAI centre in charge, police said.
Vaishavi was found hanging from a ceiling fan near the door of the room no 21 at top floor using a bedsheet, the FIR said.
It also stated that Sandra was found hanging from another ceiling fan in the same room, also using a bedsheet.
Police officials said the preliminary probe indicates suicide, and the investigation is continuing to ascertain the reasons behind it.
Though police initially denied the existence of any suicide note, they later confirmed receiving letters from both deceased persons. An officer said the letters mentioned personal issues and were addressed to their parents.
A case has been registered at the Kollam East police station under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for unnatural death.
"The reason for such an act is yet to be ascertained. We are conducting a probe into the incident," Kollam City Police Commissioner Kiran Narayanan told PTI.
Police officials said the body of Vyshnavi was handed over to her relatives after the post-mortem examination in the evening. The post-mortem examination of Sandra will be conducted on Friday, police added.
Both had been staying at the SAI hostel for the past two years, they said.
Sports Authority of India authorities said that a case has been registered.
"SAI is cooperating in the investigation. Investigation is underway," police said.
Police will record statements from other sportspersons in the hostel, their trainers, relatives, schoolmates, and school teachers, an official said.
Also, mobile phones would be examined as part of the investigation.
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Rupee falls 17 paise to 92.71 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 17 paise to 92.71 against US dollar in early trade on Thursday as the fragile ceasefire and Iran's threat to step out of the talks if Israel kept bombing Lebanon kept investors wary.
Forex traders said markets are in a wait-and-watch mode rather than strong directional positioning as the situation in West Asia remains fragile.
Geo-Political uncertainty was still high amid Iran’s threat to step out of the talks if Israel kept bombing Lebanon, keeping investors wary of the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 92.63 against the US dollar, then gained ground to touch 92.71 against the US dollar in initial trade, registering a gain of 17 paise over its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 92.54 against the American currency.
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon. The White House demanded that the channel be reopened and sought to keep peace talks on track.
"The fragile ceasefire could be jeopardized by the renewed Middle East tensions as Israel struck Lebanon and Iran warned of moving out of the ceasefire if strikes against Lebanon continued," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
This caused the dollar index to rise to 99.10, with the Euro and GBP both falling against the dollar. Asian currencies also fell from their Wednesday highs.
The RBI left Interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but flagged risks to the Indian economy from disruptions caused by the Iran war, Bhansali noted.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.10 per cent at 99.03
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 1.93 per cent at USD 96.52 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex dropped 243.57 points to 77,319.33 in opening trade, while the Nifty declined 88.3 points to 23,909.05.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 2,811.97 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met senior US officials here and discussed ways to further deepen the defence and trade relations and exchanged views on the developments in the Indo-Pacific and West Asia.
On a three-day visit here, Misri met under secretaries Michael Duffey and Elbridge Colby in the Department of Defence, and under secretaries Jeffrey Kessler and William Kimmitt in the Department of Commerce.
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