suicide by hanging
[Representational Image].Reuters File

Even as India celebrated PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik's win at the Rio Olympics, a national handball player committed suicide in Punjab's Patiala as she was not given free-of-charge hostel facility in her college. The General Shivdev Singh Diwan Gurbachan Singh Khalsa College denied that 20-year-old Pooja Kumari ever asked for hostel facilities.

The daughter of a street vendor, Kumari said that without the free-of-charge hostel facility she would have to spend Rs 3,720 per month, which is not possible for her family. With the sports quota, which was denied to her, she would have gotten free accommodation and food.

"I have to think a hundred times before spending five rupees but denial of hostel means I spend Rs 3,720 monthly to reach the college campus... which my family can't bear," reads the suicide note, which was written in blood and addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Hindustan Times.

In the note, Kumari also accused Gursharan Singh Gill, head of the physical education department, for harassing handball, hockey and kabaddi players as they had not won any medals in the previous session of the academic year.

"Mere parivar ki madad karo PM Modi ji (Please help my family, PM Modi)," the suicide note reads.

Kumari was in B.A. 2nd year and had been a handball player for six years. She represented Punjab in the national games in 2011-12 when she was in senior secondary. Her father, Prabhu Chauhan, said that Kumari had been upset after being denied free hostel and diet facilities, which is available to sports quota students.

Principal Dharminder Singh Ubha dubbed the incident "very unfortunate." He also supported Gill and said that he had done no injustice to anyone.

She was given admission on August 18 without any fee... She never approached the authorities for hostel facility," he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. "If she would have, then we would have allotted her a hostel room."

The police have filed an FIR against Gill for abetment to suicide.