National-level basketball player kills self on tracks

A 27-year-old national-level basketball player leaped in front of a train between Malad and Kandivli at 6 am on Monday.

The player, identified as Ritu Kumari Rana, a sports trainer in Ecole Mondiale World School in Juhu, left behind a suicide note stating that she, herself, was responsible for her death and was committing suicide as she couldn't live up to the expectations of her parents. She also requested the reader of the letter to cremate her body in Mumbai. Her body was taken to Bhagwati Hospital for post-mortem.

Rana used to stay as a paying guest in Kandivli. A friend, Nasir Ali, found the letter from her house after he came to know of her death. Ali said, "Rana was a very lively person and whenever she had a fight or a heated argument with anyone, she would be the first to apologise and break the discord. A month ago, she was sent to USA for basketball training."

When asked if she ever spoke to him about her state of mind, Ali said, "Of late, Rana was very depressed but she didn't tell anyone as she was very secretive. I feel that she was trying to commit suicide for the past two to three days as she had gone missing earlier and a friend of ours found her at the railway station." According to Ali, on Monday, she left the house at 4.30 am saying that she was going for training. "When we came to know about the incident, we immediately rushed to the spot," he said.u00a0