Kochi/Ambalapuzha: The body of cycle polo player Fathima Nidha Shihabuddin, 10, who died in Nagpur, was brought to Kochi by flight on Saturday morning.
Nidha was laid to rest at 12.30 pm at the cemetery of Juma Masjid at Kakkazham in Alappuzha.
Prior to that, the body was kept at her school, SDV Government Upper Primary School at Neerkunnam, near Ambalappuzha, for public homage.
Nidha had arrived in Nagpur to participate in the National Cycle Polo Championship. She died in a hospital on Thursday morning after she was taken ill, likely due to food poisoning. The teen collapsed soon after she was administered an injection. She was soon admitted to the intensive care unit, but her life could not be saved.
Nidha’s father, Shihabuddin, broke down as he saw her body at the mortuary of the Nagpur Medical College.
Shihabuddin has filed a police case against the National Cycle Polo Federation for conducting the championship without making arrangements for food and lodging, and Shrikrishna Hospital for medical negligence.
Kerala Sports Minister V Abdurahiman, who reached Nidha’s house, said that the Sports Council has released Rs 5 lakh to pay the expenses incurred at the hospital and bringing the body home.
General Education Minister V Sivankutty has written a letter to the Maharashtra Chief Minister seeking a thorough probe. Abdurahiman has written letters to the Union Minister for Sports, and the Chief Minister and Sports Minister of Maharashtra.
Not all members of the cycle polo team have been informed of Nidha’s death.
