Mourning the death of her coach and lover Bhaskar Rao, 20-year-old Routhu Meena immolated herself at her residence in Shanthinagar, Kancharapalem on Tuesday.
National-level hockey player Bhaskar Rao had been knifed twice in the chest by a junior player Ratnakar during a brawl at a New Year’s party. Sources said that Rao was not only in a relationship with Meena, he was also her mentor and coach.
Like Bhaskar, Meena too had been selected for various national-level hockey tournaments and was considered to be a very talented player.
“Since the death of Bhaskar, Meena's mother Krishnaveni told us that her daughter was lifeless and was not eating anything,” said Padmavathi, a neighbour.
Meena was in her final year degree course in a government college and was living with her mother and two younger brothers.
On Tuesday morning when she was alone in the house, Meena doused herself with kerosene that she had reportedly bought early in the morning and set herself on fire. Hearing her cries, neighbours rushed to the house and broke open the door.
The ambulance was called but Meena died before it reached. “Before the ambulance reached the spot, Meena succumbed to her burns. We have registered a case," said Kancharapalem CI Tata Rao.
Meena also left a suicide note stating that Bhaskar was everything to her and she could not live without him and was thus going to him.
"Normally girls don’t take up hockey. But Meena was different; she not only chose hockey but fared well in the game and played many national-level championships. We lost a talented woman hockey player. Bhaskar, who was also a young talented national-level player used to teach the techniques of the game to Meena,” said Venkat Rao, a fellow hockey player.