Indian Military Academy cadet dies during training in Deharadun, five others collapse

A trainee cadet of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Deharadun reportedly died on Friday while participating in a 10-km run part of routine physical training, according to a report in The Tribune. [caption id=“attachment_3952307” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Indian Military Academy cadets at Dehradun. News18[/caption] Deepak Sharma, 22, was undergoing pre-commission training at IMA, and was one of six cadets who collapsed during training, the report added. According to a report on The Times of India, Sharma, who hailed from Bathinda in Punjab, was taken to a local hospital in Herbertpur but passed away during treatment. The condition of the five other cadets could not be ascertained, however, The Tribune, quoted an officer claiming that they were not in the local military hospital on Saturday morning. “The doctors at the hospital where the army cadet received initial treatment were not clear about the reasons behind him collapsing. It could be either due to exertion or perhaps the cadet had some other health issue. On our part, we authorised the post-mortem and sent the body to a hospital in Dehradun,” The Times of India quoted Ram Naresh Sharma, in-charge of the police station at Herbertpur, as saying. An officer at the Indian Military Academy, who has been serving as an instructor at the academy told The Times of India that many factors, including the weather, the cadet’s health or stamina, could have resulted in the death. In May this year, a navy cadet died of cardiac arrest at the Indian Naval Academy (INA) in Kerala, NDTV had reported. The family of the cadet had alleged harassment. They say the boy joined the navy as a sailor at 18 but cleared his exams for officers’ training. But at the academy, he was reportedly dismissed for cheating, after which he took to court. He was reinstated, but “after the first two months, whenever he would call, he would tell us that he was being troubled mentally” the report quoted the victim’s brother as saying. Last year, an INA cadet in Kerala had died while undergoing physical training as part of his course, The Hindu had reported. There have been numerous incidents at various military training institutes across the country where cadets died during physical training, raising questions about training methods.