Thiruvananthapuram: The opposition Congress on Thursday termed as "unfortunate" the death of a cycle polo player from Kerala, who had gone to participate in the National Cycle Polo championship in Nagpur, and accused the Left government of 'negligence' and 'failure' in addressing the issues faced by players from the state.
The party demanded a proper investigation into the death of 10-year-old Fathima Nida Shihabuddin, a native of Alappuzha, at the earliest and sought action against those officials who failed to ensure adequate facilities to the young sports stars.
According to authorities, Fathima collapsed and died at a private hospital in Nagpur this morning.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of the young player.
KPCC president K Sudhakaran charged that the national federation for cycle polo showed grave neglect towards the players from the state as they came to participate in the event with a court order.
The state players were even denied food and accommodation by the Federation though they allowed them to compete, he alleged.
The Congress leader said the state government and the sports department had the duty and responsibility to address the issues being faced by our players and intervene immediately.
"But, just like the past, the Sports department remained mere spectators in this issue also," he claimed.
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan also blamed the state sports department for 'failure' to provide basic amenities and security to the players.
The LoP also urged the Union Sports Ministry to inquire into the alleged denial of basic facilities and rights of the Kerala cycle polo team by the Federation.
Fathima Nida Shihabuddin (10), who had come for the National Cycle Polo Championship being held in Nagpur, died on Thursday after she fell sick in the morning, an official said.
The girl had not passed motion for the past two days, championship organising secretary Gajanan Burde told PTI.
"She was part of the Kerala team for the sub junior segment. I met the secretary of their team, which had arranged accommodation on their own, on Wednesday. I was told about her not passing motions for the past two days and taking ill this morning," Burde said.
She collapsed and died in a private hospital in Nagpur after being administered M-set injection in the morning, he claimed.
According to police, Fathima Nida Shihabuddin's death medico-legal case was received from Shrikrishna Hospital. She had gone there with the complaint of stomach ache and died five minutes after being administered an injection.
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