ALAPPUZHA: The three SAI trainees, who survived the suicide attempt at the centre’s women’s hostel in Punnamada here, on Friday reiterated that they, along with deceased trainee Aparana Ramabhadran, took the extreme step after being ragged by senior trainees.
“The seniors made us wash their undergarments and we were forced to give them massages several times,” the trainees told reporters, after being discharged from Alappuzha Medical College.
The trainees at the SAI Water Sports Center said they had complained to the hostel warden, but she advised them to bear it for the sake of their future.
“The harassment we were made to endure crossed all limits and we were forced to attempt suicide,” said the trainees Silpa K R, Treesa Jacob and Sabitha Santhosh. The girls said they would not return to SAI to continue their training.
However, they said that coach Poulose neither harassed nor tortured them.
The statements of the trainees are a blow to the reports of SAI Director General Injeti Srinivas.
Earlier, Srinivas had submitted a report to the Union Sports Ministry stating that the girls took the extreme step after being teased by seniors for drinking beer during a SAI function. The police are also probing the case.
Serious allegations were raised by the girls’ parents and an action council was formed to demand an impartial inquiry into the incident.
The trainees had consumed Othalanga, a poisonous fruit, on May 6 and were rushed to the medical college after they fainted. One of the trainees Aparna Ramabhadran died the next day.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission conducted a sitting at the government guest House raising the rights violations within the sports centre.
National Human Rights Commission chairperson Justice Cyriac Joseph and Commission Deputy Superintendent I R Koorilose also spoke to the trainees, their parents and SAI officials on Friday.