New Delhi: Pakistani hockey player Shahida Raza was identified as one of the victims of the tragic migrant boat accident in Italy last weekend. The 27 year old’s cause of death has been deemed drowning.
Fondly known as Chintu by her loved ones, Raza played hockey for Pakistan at the international level and played football domestically. She was part of Balochistan United.
According to sources close to her family, from Quetta, she was undergoing a rough patch in her life, grappling with being a single mother to her daughter (not with her on the boat) after her divorce. In an attempt to brighten her future prospects, she decided to migrate to Europe, taking the doomed boat ride from Turkey to Italy. It crashed into a sea cliff while anchored in the Crotone region, causing 200 migrants to drown, including around 40 Pakistanis, mostly from Gujrat.
Tributes have poured in for Raza, including from the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Vice President Shehla Raza and PHF Women Wing Secretary Tanzila Amir Cheema.
“President of Pakistan Hockey Federation Brigadier R. Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, Secretary General Haider Hussain, Chairperson Women’s Hockey Wing Syeda Shehla Raza, GM Women’s Wing Tanzeela Amir Cheema has expressed condolences to the family of former international women’s hockey player Shahida Raza (Chintu), who died due to an accident and prayed for her forgiveness,” said the PHF in a press release on Tuesday.
At least 59 migrants have been confirmed dead in Sunday’s accident in Italy, including Pakistanis. The cause has been deemed sinking due to an overloaded boat in a storm, officials said.
In lieu of this incident, two Pakistani nationals and one Turk have been arrested on suspicion of trafficking about 200 migrants, according to the local police. Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Lippolis said that the suspects had sailed in spite of the inclement weather conditions and were pinpointed by those who survived the accident as “the main culprits of the tragedy”.
“According to initial investigations, they allegedly asked the migrants for about 8,000 euros ($8,485) each for the deadly journey,” said Lippolis, commander of a finance police team in the region of Calabria. “All three have been arrested.”
In total, there are 4 suspects, of which one is yet to be apprehended by the police and is Turkish. One of the Pakistanis arrested is a minor. This information has come in from a judicial source.
The Hazara community in Quetta, which has been the target of fatal attacks over the years, is in anguish and mourning over Shahida Raza’s death. Community leaders have requested the government to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future.
This tragedy shed light yet again on the perilousness migrants embark when trying to reach Europe for a better life, risking their precious lives in overcrowded boats, unsuitable for the seas.