Social media websites on Wednesday were rife with reports of wrestler Nisha Dahiya and his brother Suraj being murdered in Haryana. The reports stated that Dahiya and his brother Suraj were shot dead in Haryana’s Sonepat by unknown assailants as they were returning home from Sushil Kumar Wrestling Academy in Sonepat’s Halalpur. It was also reported that Nisha’s mother was admitted to Rohtak’s PGI Hospital and was in critical condition. However, the wrestler herself has come forward to clarify that she is well and alive, and termed the reports of her murder as fake news.
On Friday, Dahiya had won the bronze medal in the 72kg weight class at the U23 World Wrestling Championships 2021 in Belgrade. Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lauded Dahiya and other fellow wrestlers for their achievement.
Today evening, several news publications reported that national-level wrestler Nisha and her brother were assassinated in Haryana’s Sonepat.
The Times of India report said bodies Dahiya and her brother were sent to Civil Hospital for postmortem.
Similarly, CNN News 18 carried a report that cited Sonepat police sources to claim 5-6 bullets were fired at Nisha Dahiya by unknown assailants.
Similarly, other news organisations, including Sportskeeda India, Hindustan Times, also published the death of the ace wrestler who had recently won a bronze medal at World Championship in Belgrade.
Congress supporter Tehseen Poonawalla also weighed in on the matter, quoting PM Modi’s congratulatory tweet to Nisha Dahiya on her achievement to allege that Nisha Dahiya was “brutally murdered” in Sonepat. Poonawalla further asked PM Modi to tweet about the incident and ensure justice for the wrestler’s family, along with seeking responsibility from the Haryana CM ML Khattar.
Nisha Dahiya dismisses rumours of her death
As it turns out, the reports of Nisha Dahiya’s death were baseless and misleading. After rumours of her death started doing the rounds on the internet, the wrestler took to her Instagram account and shared a video in which she identified herself and asserted that she is currently in Haryana’s Gonda and is safe and well. “I am in Gonda to play senior nationals. I am alright. It’s a fake news. I am fine,” she said in the video.
The video was also shared by ESPN journalist Jonathan Selvaraj, who had earlier tweeted that Nisha Dahiya was shot dead by unknown assailants. Sharing Dahiya’s video, Selvaraj apologised for sharing fake news about the wrestler’s death.
Olympian Sakshi Malik also took to her Twitter to share her pictures with wrestler Nisha Dahiya and slammed the rumours about her death. “She is alive,” Malik tweeted along with her picture with Nisha Dahiya.
ESPN’s Jonathan Selvaraj quoted wrestling president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to claim it was another Nisha who was killed in Haryana’s Sonepat.
According to reports, the false reports about Nisha Dahiya appeared on media because a different woman was actually murdered on Sonipat. Coincidently, that woman is also a wrestler and her name is also Nisha Dahiya, which caused confusion. Reportedly, her coach is accused in the case.
PTI reported saying that the wrestler shot dead in Sonepat is newcomer Nisha Dahiya, not the U-23 world championship bronze-medallist, quoting the coach of the Indian team.