Two teenage athletes were found dead at the Sports Authority of India (SAI)-run hostel in Kollam on Thursday, January 15, 2026.
The victims, identified as 18-year-old Sandra A from Chaliyam in Kozhikode district and 15-year-old Vyshnavi V from Muthakkal in Thiruvananthapuram district, were discovered hanging from a ceiling fan in a first-floor room.
Sandra, a Class 12 athletics trainee, and Vyshnavi, a Class 10 kabaddi player, were allotted separate rooms but spent Wednesday night together in Sandra's room, asking her roommates to leave. Fellow inmates noticed their absence from the morning training session around 5 am, broke open the locked door, and found the bodies.
"We have recovered a suicide note signed by both in which they have sought apology
from the parents for having taken the extreme step. The matter is under investigation. Parents of the girls have not so far raised any doubts or complaints about the suicides," Kollam East Police Station House Officer Pushpakumar G said.
A case of unnatural death has been registered, with probes into other angles pending postmortem reports. "A case for unnatural death has been registered. Probe into other angles will be taken based on the postmortem reports," Pushpakumar added. Police plan to record statements from SAI officials, trainers, and other inmates, and one postmortem has been completed as of Thursday evening. No specific reason was mentioned in the note, and families have not filed complaints.
The Kollam SAI center, overseen by in-charge Rajeev Thomas, houses 40 girls training in athletics, hockey, and kabaddi. Authorities are cooperating with police, and the hostel maintains routine coaching schedules.
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