Commonwealth Games triple medalist and Arjuna Award-winning Olympian, Babita Phogat, has condoled the death of Suhani Bhatnagar, who played her younger self in the 2016 Aamir Khan-starrer biographical sports drama, ‘Dangal’.

“I can’t believe it. I am shocked by the news,” Phogat wrote on social media, adding: “May her family and fans have the courage to bear the loss in this hour of grief.”

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‘Dangal’ narrates the story of the Haryana sisters Geeta and Babita Phogat, who became India’s first women wrestlers to appear in international competitions and win medals.

Writing in Hindi on X, Babita said: “Dangal film mein mere bachpan ka role nibhane wali Suhani Bhatnagar ka itni kam umra me sansaar se chale jaana atyant dukhad hai. Mujhe vishwas nahi ho raha hai, is khabar se stabhd hoon. Ishwar divangat aatma ko apne shri charno mein sthaan de evam dukh ki ghadi mein poore parivaar aur prashansako yeh dukh sehne ki himmat pradaan kare. Om Shanti.”

(I feel extremely sad that Suhani Bhatnagar, who played me as a child in the film ‘Dangal’, has passed away at such a young age. I can’t believe it. I am shocked by this news!! May God give peace to the departed soul at his feet and may her family and fans have the courage to bear this loss in this hour of grief. Om Shanti.)

Babita’s elder sister, India’s first Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning woman wrestler, Geeta Phogat, also wrote on X in Hindi, expressing sentiments similar to those of Babita.

‘Dangal’ featured Aamir Khan as their father, Mahavir Singh Phogat, who was driven by his dream to make his daughters world-class wrestlers. Sanya Malhotra played Babita, Fatima Sana Shaikh essayed Geeta’s part and Zaira Wasim appeared as the young Geeta.

A Faridabad girl, Suhani, 19, got breaks in ad commercials after her ‘Dangal’ experience and then faded out because she wanted to focus on studies. Two months back, she was afflicted by a rare autoimmune condition known as dermatomyositis.

Suhani’s hands started swelling mysteriously and then it spread to the rest of the body, but her condition could not be identified by doctors treating her till she was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, some 11 days ago.

The condition can only be treated with steroids, but these affected her immune system and weakened her so much that she started finding it impossible to breathe.