On Wednesday morning, authorities discovered Konica Layak, Jharkhand’s 2020 10-meter air rifle state champion, hanging inside a women’s hostel in Bally, Howrah district.
Layak, 28, became famous after actor-turned-philanthropist Sonu Sood gave her a new rifle for training earlier this year, according to a police officer from the Bally police station who spoke on the condition of anonymity. She left a suicide note in which she wrote about failing to fulfil her parents’ dreams.
Layak was disqualified for the national championship in October at the G V Mavalankar pre-national event on charges of tampering with the target, according to her coach, former Olympian and Arjuna awardee Joydeep Karmakar.
“In less than four months, Layak has become the fourth Indian shooter to commit suicide. Since September, three Punjabi gunmen have shot themselves with their own rifles. The shooting sports community in the United States is in a horrible spot right now. “Perhaps psychologists might shed some additional light on this,” Karmakar speculated.
Layak joined Karmakar’s training institute in Kolkata in July this year after finding the training facilities in Jharkhand to be inadequate. She used to visit her family and stay with other housemates at a women’s hostel in Bally.
“Layak is said to have hanged herself after her roommates had gone to work. A post-mortem examination has been ordered for the body. A police official stated, “Members of her family have migrated from Jharkhand.”
“I first learned about Layak after reading in the headlines that Sood had been affected by her hardships and had purchased a new weapon for her. We reached out to her and invited her to join us for training. We slashed her training costs by half. “When we brought her on board, her skills were extremely raw,” Karmakar explained.
“I can’t believe she committed suicide.” Layak always had a nice smile on his face. She didn’t identify as an extrovert or an introvert. In my institute, there are approximately 300 pupils. It’s tough to say what’s going on in their heads, but Layak never appeared to be depressed. The defeat at Mavalankar was humiliating, but it happened two months ago,” Karmakar added.
“A gunman was suspended for two years on a similar allegation almost 20 years ago.” I’m not sure if the national shooting sports authority in her instance were considering taking similar action. “After all, she is the representative of Jharkhand,” Karmakar remarked.
“Since September, three Punjabi shooters have committed suicide. This is the fourth occurrence, according to Karmakar.
Namanveer Singh Brar, a bronze medalist at the World University Games, committed suicide in Mohali in September. Hunardeep Singh Sohal, a state-level shooter, committed suicide in October. On December 8, Khushseerat Kaur Sandhu, a competitor in the Junior World Championships, committed suicide.
Layak’s parents told the police that she had gone to Chittaranjan in West Burdwan district to attend a friend’s wedding earlier this week.
