Sporting Community In Shock After Shooter Konica Layak Ends Life

Konica Layak, a national-level shooter, died by suicide Wednesday in Kolkata, sending shockwaves in the sporting community. She is reportedly the fourth Indian shooter to have ended their lives in the fag end of 2021. As per reports, Layak was found hanging in her hostel room in Bally, Howrah.

The 26-year-old originally hailed from Dhanbad, Jharkhand. She came into the spotlight earlier this year after actor Sonu Sood came to know of her struggles and gifted her a German-built rifle to practice.

According to Hindustan Times, police officials said a suicide note by Layak was recovered, which mentioned regret at failing to fulfil her parents' dreams. Other reports quoting the police say "depression" was cited as the reason for Layak taking the step of ending her life.

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As reported earlier, teen shooter from Punjab, Khush Seerat Kaur Sandhu ended her life in December. An international-level player, she was 17 and as per her parents was disappointed over her performance at the national shooting games this year. Read about her here.

Reports suggest Layak was training with Olympian shooter Joydeep Karmakar in Kolkata. Karmakar, speaking to the media, said this was not a good time for India's shooting fraternity and that more needs to be done to address players' mental health. Shooter Namanveer Singh Brar and Hunardeep Singh Sohal too lost their lives in similar incidents in September and October respectively.

Layak was due to get married in February next year.

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Layak had been irregular with her training, reports ESPN. She had allegedly been wanting to return home to Dhanbad to continue training and was possibly under some stress. According to what police were quoted saying, the suicide note attributed to her mentioned that she was upset over not getting enough chances.

She had failed to qualify for shooting nationals this year.

In January 2021, Layak put out a tweet saying she had won a gold and silver in the Jharkhand State Rifle Shooting Championship 2020 and yet was without assistance from the state government for a rifle. She tagged Sood, who is on an active crusade of philanthropy since the pandemic began, in her tweet.

She had relied on borrowed rifles until Sood gifted her one not long after her request; it was a German 10-meter rifle, as per reports. Layak also made it through to Karmakar's training academy in Kolkata, for which Sood said he would bear the costs.