Indian footballer drowns in Australia

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 11  

A day after her death was confirmed, parents of a football player are still waiting to hear from the authorities, both Indian and Australian, about how she died. Nitisha,15, and our other girls were swept away by a huge wave at Adelaide’s Glenelg beach on Sunday. The five girls and a few other members of the Indian football delegation had gone to the beach after the completion of the Pacific School Games.

While four of them were rescued, Nitisha could not be found till late on Sunday when the rescue efforts were called off. Her body was found early today morning. News of her missing at sea was notified to her parents last evening. But nobody has told them as to exactly what transpired on the beach.

“We have spoken to everyone, including Delhi government representatives, Foreign Ministry people and others, but none were able to tell us how she ended up deep in the sea,” her grandfather PS Negi told The Tribune.

The family’s only demand now is that they should get her mortal remains as soon as possible so that her last rites could be performed. “We have only one demand from the authorities, to help us bring her back soon. We were told by the Australian authorities that it may take even 10 days for them to complete all the formalities. If it takes this long, it will only make it worse for our family,” he added.

Nitisha was among 100 young athletes who had travelled to Australia as part of a School Games Federation of India (SGFI) delegation. The tour was funded by the state governments of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. 

SGFI president Sushil Kumar met with the parents of the deceased girl last night and offered all help possible. “It is an absolute tragedy. I cannot describe how hard it is for the players and coaches who are still there. I have ordered an inquiry into the incident, but that won’t change anything for the parents as this would be a lifelong hurt for them,” Sushil said of the incident.

“Our embassy officials are in touch with the Australian authorities and our first concern is to get her remains to India soon,” he added.

This was the second major incident concerning the Indian delegation during this tour. A few days ago, the members of the girls hockey team had complained of ill-treatment at the hands of the organisers after they had to forfeit their opening match against a local team due to the lack of transport to take them to the venue. They had also claimed that the officials and team managers with them had failed to help them.