Laishram Sarita Devi is an Indian boxer from Manipur who has represented India in the lightweight categories at international amateur boxing competitions. She is a former World Amateur Boxing Champion and a multiple-time medallist at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships and the Asian Championships. She is widely known both for her sustained run of medals in the 60 kg class during the late 2000s and early 2010s and for the controversy surrounding her bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
| Full name | Laishram Sarita Devi |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 March 1982 |
| Birthplace | Imphal, Manipur, India |
| Sport | Amateur boxing |
| Weight class | Lightweight (60 kg) / Light welterweight (64 kg) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Major title | World Champion, AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, 2006 |
| Honours | Arjuna Award (2009), Padma Shri (2018) |
Sarita Devi was born in Imphal, the capital of Manipur, a state in north-east India that has produced several leading women boxers including Mary Kom. She took up boxing in the late 1990s, training initially in Manipur before joining national camps run by the Boxing Federation of India and, later, the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation. She has been associated with the Manipur Police service in her professional life, a common career path for sportspersons from the state.
Sarita Devi won the gold medal in the 52 kg category at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships held in New Delhi in 2006, becoming one of the early Indian women to take a world title in boxing. She added further medals at subsequent editions of the World Championships through the late 2000s, competing primarily in the 60 kg lightweight category.
She is a multiple medallist at the AIBA Women's Asian Boxing Championships, where she won the lightweight title on more than one occasion. At the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Sarita Devi reached the semi-final of the 60 kg event, where she lost a controversial decision to South Korean boxer Park Ji-na. At the medal ceremony she initially refused her bronze medal in protest, attempting to hand it to her opponent, an act that drew international attention.
Following the medal ceremony protest, the AIBA imposed a one-year suspension on Sarita Devi for breaching ceremonial protocol. She returned to competitive boxing after serving the ban and continued to compete at national and international level.
Sarita Devi has competed at the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Indoor Games, and various international invitational tournaments. She has also boxed in professional bouts after taking up professional boxing later in her career, though her main international record is in the amateur format.
Sarita Devi is regarded as one of the pioneering figures of Indian women's boxing, alongside contemporaries such as Mary Kom and Jenny R. L. Her 2006 world title contributed to the early international visibility of Indian women in the sport, well before women's boxing was added to the Olympic programme in 2012. Her stand at the 2014 Asian Games drew wider public attention in India to questions of judging standards in amateur boxing and to the working conditions of athletes from the country's north-east.
Sarita Devi is married to Thoiba Singh, a former boxer, and the family is based in Manipur. She has spoken publicly about balancing competitive sport with motherhood and has been involved in coaching and mentoring younger boxers from the state.