Kollam, Kerala: In a shocking incident on Thursday morning, two teenage athletes were found hanging in a room at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel in Kollam, prompting an immediate police investigation. Authorities have confirmed that the girls, aged 17 and 15, were students from Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram districts, respectively.

According to Kollam East police officials, one of the deceased was a Class 12 athletics trainee, while the other was a Class 10 kabaddi player. Both had reportedly spent the previous night together in the room allotted to one of them, although they were normally assigned separate rooms. The incident came to light around 5:00 AM when fellow hostel inmates noticed that the girls had not arrived for their morning training session. Repeated knocks on the door went unanswered, prompting hostel authorities to break open the door, only to discover both girls hanging from ceiling fans.

A senior officer of the Kollam East police station told HT, “The two girls were found dead in a hostel room by their fellow inmates in the early hours of Thursday. They didn’t come for the morning training.” Authorities have confirmed that no suicide note has been recovered from the room so far, and the exact cause of death remains undetermined.

Police have initiated a detailed investigation into the case. Statements are being recorded from other sportspersons residing in the hostel, as well as from trainers, hostel staff, and the families of the deceased. The bodies will be handed over to their relatives following post-mortem examinations.

The police also noted that both athletes had been seen by fellow hostel inmates early in the morning before the tragedy occurred, which adds to the urgency of determining the sequence of events that led to their deaths.

This incident has sent shockwaves through the sporting community in Kerala, raising questions about the mental health and welfare support available to young athletes living away from their families. Investigators are examining all possible angles, including psychological and social factors, while also reviewing hostel protocols and security measures.

Unrelated Tragic Incident in Karnataka

In a separate and unusual accident in Karnataka, a 48-year-old man, Sanjeev Kumar Hosamani, was killed after a kite string (locally known as manja) slashed his throat while he was riding a motorcycle in Chitguppa, Bidar. The ground glass-laced kite string had been hanging across the road and became entangled around Hosamani’s neck, causing fatal injuries. He fell on the road and bled heavily, dying at the scene. Police confirmed that Hosamani was on his way to Humnabad to pick up his daughter from her hostel for the Sankranti festival.

Both incidents underscore ongoing safety concerns—one in a controlled institutional setting and the other a hazard of public spaces—drawing attention to the need for vigilance and preventive measures to protect lives.

Authorities in Kollam have urged anyone with information related to the deaths of the two teenage athletes to come forward, as the probe into this tragic incident continues.