Missing woman cricketer found hanging in Odisha forest

Rajashree Swain, a 26-year-old woman cricketer of Odisha, was found hanging from a tree inside a dense forest in Cuttack district on Friday, the police said.

She was missing since January 11.

Her scooter was found abandoned near the forest.

“A case of unnatural death has been registered in the matter. We found her body hanging from a tree in Gurudijhatia forest in Athagarh area. We will probe the death from all angles,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Pinak Mishra said.

The cause of Swain’s death will be clear once the post-mortem report arrives, Mishra said.

The cricketer from Puri district was here to attend a training camp organised by the Odisha Cricket Association for an upcoming national-level tournament in Puducherry.

Swain, however, failed to clinch a place in the 16-member team selected for the tournament.

“She was seen crying on Wednesday evening after the names of team members were announced, and went missing from the hotel, where we had all put up for the training session, shortly after,” said Swain’s roommate.

A missing complaint was lodged at the local Mangalabag police station in Cuttack city by coach Pushpanjali Banerjee, after Swain could not be reached over phone.

Her family members alleged that Swain, a right-arm fast bowler and a middle-order batter, was murdered “as the body bore injury marks and her eyes were damaged”.

They also claimed that Swain was refused a berth in the team despite performing better than many others who have been selected.

Subrat Behera, the CEO of the association, said the selection was done in a very transparent manner, expressing shock over the demise of the cricketer.

“If there was prejudice, how is that she found a place in the 25-member probable team, which attended the camp,” Behera added.