Abhinav Bindra, an Olympic gold
medal-winning shooter, has offered to help shooters after several cases of
suicides were reported among promising athletes. On Thursday, 26-year-old
shooter Konica Layak hanged herself to death at her residence in Bengal’s
Howrah district with a suicide note. Layak suffered a setback in October when
she was disqualified for the national championship at the G V Mavalankar
pre-national event on charges of tampering targets. This was the fourth case of
death by suicide in recent months in the shooting fraternity, reported PTI.

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Recently, young pistol shooter Khushpreet
Kaur Sandhu, who made her India debut at the last World Championship in Lima,
committed suicide after registering low scores at the Nationals. Before that,
two more shooters, namely Hunardeep Singh Sohal and Namanveer Singh Brar, also
took the extreme step.

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“I am writing to bring your kind
attention to recent incidents of athlete suicides in the country. The news has
startled me on a very personal note and I feel that to prevent any further loss
of lives, we must act quickly and responsibly,” Bindra wrote to NRAI
president Raninder Singh.

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“Athletes are also human; are prone to
anxiety, depression, and need to be given a safe and conducive atmosphere to
pursue excellence. Our intention is to help athletes, coaches,” Bindra
wrote in his letter.

“Through this letter, I wish to offer
the time & energy of my team to help the athletes, coaches, administrators,
parents, and others in the sporting ecosystem in need.

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“I hope you will accept my proposal
and allow us to conduct a few virtual sessions…focusing on the awareness and
mental wellness of stakeholders at all levels in the ecosystem,” he
concluded.

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Though shooting has been a prominent
Olympic sport in the country, Indian shooters failed to make a mark at the
Olympics in Tokyo earlier this year with op shooters returning home
empty-handed.