Indian boxer Sarita Devi publicly refused to accept her bronze medal at the Asian Games after her Semi-Finals bout bout was robbed from her and was gifted to her Korean Opponent. As a result of that, many Indian sportsmen and the Indian media came out in support of the boxer who had to borrow $500 from her husband and a journalist to pay and appeal her decision.
She later apologised for her actions.Despite her apology for initially refusing the medal, she may now be faced with a ban, said reports. However, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has written to AIBA asking that no more action be taken against the boxer, according to The Times of India.
A group of Indians have started a crowd-funding campaign called Stand with Sarita to raise money for Sarita Devi in twitter.
The campaign that aims to raise Rs. 5 lakh in two weeks began on October 2 after a group of twitterati led by one, Sushoban Mukherjee decided to show her support ‘ in reality’ and ‘not just through clicktavism’. As of October 5th, three days since the campaign begin, it has raised Rs. 1,66,761 from 102 supporters on the Mulaapportal which is hosting the crowd-funding initiative.
However, Sarita Devi has not been contacted for her approval of this fundraising initiative, Mukherjee said in response to queries that that he believed that Sarita would not refuse the money.