‘I was beaten from 11pm to 3am’: How Sharmila Dhankar overcame spousal abuse to make CWG history

Sharmila Dhankar (ANI Photo) New Delhi: For Sharmila Dhankar, every throw has the weight of a rebuilt life. From growing up in poverty in Haryana’s Mahendragarh district and surviving domestic violence in her first marriage to selling the family home to pursue her sporting dream, the 40-year-old para bowler has turned adversity into ambition as she prepares for her second Commonwealth Games (CWG).On Monday night, Sharmila made history by becoming India’s first ever para-athletics gold medalist. She produced a landmark performance when she won the women’s F57 shot put title with a season’s best of 9.81m, ending the nation’s 20-year wait for a para-athletics medal at the Games. The last para-athletics medal at the CWG was won by Ranjith Kumar Jayaseelan in the men’s seated discus in 2006.The F57 classification is intended for athletes with disabilities of the lower limbs, lack of limbs or reduced muscle strength.The sit thrower, who also competes in the discus, heads to the Games after an impressive showing at the Fazza International Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, where she won gold in the shot put and bronze in the discus.Her sports journey began only at the age of 34. Sharmila contracted polio at the age of two, which affected her right leg, and grew up in a family that struggled to make ends meet. “My mother was blind, my father was a farmer and we had very little to survive on. Life was never easy,” she told TOI.She married at 19 and endured years of domestic violence before returning to her parents’ home with her two daughters – Anju, now 15, and Lakshmi, 13. “One night from 11pm to 3am I was beaten by my first husband and thrown out of the house. I never came back,” she recalled.Her life changed after her second marriage. Her husband Ajit Singh introduced her to para sports and encouraged her to train under coaches Tek Chand and Devendra. In 2021, she made her debut at the Para National Championships and won gold with a national record.The following year she finished fourth at the Birmingham CWG, narrowly missing out on a medal. She placed fourth again at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou. Despite these strong performances, financial difficulties persisted. To fund her career, the family sold their house in Rewari in 2023 and moved into rented accommodation. “Sports gave me a second birth. After winning medals in para CWG and Asian Games this year, I want to buy a house again,” she said.Sharmila finished fifth at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi last year. Besides medals, her biggest dream is to make sure her daughters have the opportunities she never had. Both are budding athletes – Anju competes in the under-16 javelin, while Lakshmi is an under-14 long jumper. Sharmila hopes that sports will help them build a future without the hardships she had to overcome.