No Berths For Women Hockey Players, 4 Girls Forced To Squat In Train  

Bhubaneswar: At a time India is in raptures savouring the success of PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik, here is how our hockey girls are treated on their return from Rio Olympics.

Few Hockey players of Indian squad, who were traveling from Ranchi to Rourkela were made to sit on the floor of the railway compartment as they did not have confirmed berths. The girls revealed their identity to the TTE, but the latter was adamant and did not allow berth to them.

Himanshu Sekhar Behera, Sundargarh sub-collector

We will draw the attention of the Railways about the incident. They should have been provided seats. It is the responsibility of the department to take care of them

“We asked the TTE to allot berths to us but he denied. After travelling for about an hour, we got seats,” said a player.

The players are - Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, Lilima Minz and Sunita Lakra - who boarded the Dhanbad-Alleppey Express train.

When asked, Sundargarh sub-collector Himanshu Sekhar Behera said, “We will draw the attention of the Railways about the incident. They should have been provided seats. It is the responsibility of the department to take care of them.”