Indian wrestler who was reported murdered takes to social media to clarify she is alive

A major mix-up in the Indian media earlier this week reported wrestler Nisha Dahiya as murdered, just days after she won a bronze medal at the U23 World Wrestling Championships. Dahiya, who was in the midst of a sparring session with Rio Olympics bronze medalist Sakshi Malik when social media was getting filled with condolences messages for her, took to her Twitter account to assure that she was alive and well.

"I am in Gonda (Uttar Pradesh) for the National Championships (which she ended up winning) and I am perfectly fine. This news is fake," she said in the video. She told Indian Express about the hoax, "It was very stressful. I spoke to my family and they too were a bit disturbed by the news. I assured them I was okay."

The misleading news report was caused by a case of mistaken identity, as it was another wrestler by the same name who was murdered that day. Nisha Yadav, a state-level wrestler from Haryana, was shot dead at the Sushil Kumar Wrestling Academy in Halalpur, Sonepat, allegedly by a man who is from the same village as her, and was running the academy.

The accused, Pawan, allegedly killed Yadav with the help of another man named Sachin and then told her mother to pick her up from the academy. When the victim's mother and brother reached the spot, they too were attacked. Yadav's brother also lost his life while their mother was hospitalised. The accused took the CCTV camera at the academy and fled.

The accused were arrested from the national capital Delhi on Friday. Sanjeev Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, said, "The two accused are identified as Coach Pawan Barak and Sachin Dahiya. One licensed revolver has been recovered from Barak's possession.

Meanwhile, villagers enraged by the murders set the academy on fire. At the same time, social media users raised the demand to rename the facility. The academy was named after Sushil Kumar, a two-time Olympic medallist from the state, who was jailed on charges of kidnapping and murder in May this year over the death of a young wrestler at a stadium in Delhi.