JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
National level shooter Konika Layak who was gifted rifle by Sonu Sood, dies by suicide: Report
Konika Layak, who represented Jharkhand, was gifted a rifle by Sonu Sood in March this year.
In an unfortunate turn of events, National-level shooter, Konika Layak was found dead inside her hostel room at Bally in Bengal’s Howrah district on Wednesday morning. 28-year-old Konika represented her state Jharkhand, and came in the limelight when actor Sonu Sood, moved by her struggles, gifted her a rifle in March. She was the 10-metre air-rifle state champion of Jharkhand.
According to reports in Hindustan Times, a police officer from Bally informed under the condition of anonymity, that Bally left a suicide note, mentioning that she has failed to fulfill her parents’ dream. She reportedly hung herself after her roommates left for work. Her body has been reportedly sent for post-mortem, and her family has come from Jharkhand.
It should be noted that Konika’s coach, and former Olympian and Arjuna awardee Joydeep Karmakar reportedly informed the news portal that she was disqualified for the national championship at the G V Mavalankar pre-national event. This was in October, when Konika was reportedly charged with hampering the target.
Karmakar further informed that Konika had joined his training institute in Kolkata in July this year, when her skills were quite raw. He shared that after Sonu Sood gifted her the rifle, he got to know about her, and asked her to join his institute. Coach Karamakar further said that he had reduced her training fees by 50%.
“I cannot believe that she can die by suicide. Layak always wore a charming smile. She was neither an extrovert, nor an introvert. There are around 300 students in my institute. It is difficult to say what is going on inside their minds but Layak never appeared to be a person suffering from depression. The setback at Mavalankar was definitely a humiliation but that happened two months ago,” stated Karmakar.
Konika is the fourth shooter to die by suicide in four months, which has raised deep concerns in India’s shooting sports circle. In September, three other shooters from Punjab had reportedly shot themselves with their own firearms.
ALSO READ: Durga Puja receives UNESCO Heritage status; PM Modi calls it a 'matter of pride'
