8 most tragic beauty queen deaths

Not all beauty queens have lived a happy life. While some struggled to get over breakups, few succumbed to incurable diseases and others became victims of crime and violence. We take a look at some of the most shocking beauty queen deaths that continue to haunt us even today.

Viveka Babajee (1973 - 2010)
Mauritian model and actress Viveka Babajee was Miss Mauritius World 1993 and Miss Mauritius Universe 1994. The beauty queen was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her apartment at her Bandra residence in Mumbai. Police reports stated that acute depression led Viveka to kill herself. Months before committing suicide, she had reportedly told her mother over the phone, "I am going far away".

Nafisa Joseph (1978-2004)
Miss India Universe 1997 Nafisa Joseph hanged herself at her flat in Versova in Mumbai on July 29, 2004. She was crowned Miss India at the age of 19. Nafisa's parents told reporters the model ended her life after her wedding with businessman Gautam Khanduja was called off. According to media reports, Nafisa Joseph discovered that Khanduja was still married and not divorced as he had claimed.

Mofya Chisenga (1983-2011)
Moyfa represented Zambia at the 2006 Miss Universe pageant, Miss Tourism Queen International Pageant 2005 in China and the Miss Leisure World 2008 pageant in China. According to reports, she was admitted with malaria in pregnancy and later discharged. However, she was again brought in a critical condition. According to reports, she died on the same night after delivering the baby.

Marina Kolobova-Featherstone (1978-2012)
27-year-old former Ukrainian beauty queen Marina Kolobova-Featherstone drank herself to death after her banker husband called their marriage off. Married to Andrew Featherstone, the head of operations at Brennus Asset Management in London, in 2010; the pair had a string of arguments after just one year of marriage. According to reports, Marina died of alcohol poisoning.

Mariana Bridi Costa (1988 - 2009)
She began her career at an early age of 14. She secured the fourth place in the Miss World Brazil 2006 beauty pageant and participated in the Miss Bikini International contest the following year. In December 2008, Bridi was (initially) misdiagnosed with kidney infection and by early January, medical reports confirmed a urinary tract infection that worsened to become septic. Sadly, the sepsis caused tissue necrosis in her feet and hands which were later amputated in an attempt to save her life. During her final surgery, a part of her stomach was also removed. She died on the morning of January 24, 2009. Severe sepsis, urinary infection and abdominal bleeding led to multiple-organ failure.

Maria Susana Flores Gamez (1992-2012)
Beauty queen Maria Susana Flores Gamez was crowned Miss Sinaloa 2012. She was killed in northern Mexico during a running gun battle between soldiers and the gang of drug traffickers she was travelling with. It was reported that her body was found lying near an assault rifle on a rural road in a mountainous area in the state of Sinaloa. It was unclear if she used the weapon.

Csilla Molnar (1969-1986)
Crowned Miss Hungary in 1985, the 17-year-old committed suicide on July 10, 1986. Earlier in a radio interview she said, "I don't know whether I can bear this, everybody is harassing me. They (People) ask: Where and from whom did you get those beautiful clothes? Who helped you? Do you or your father have special connections with the jury? And so on".

Agnieszka Kotlarska (1972 -1996)
Miss International 1991 Agnieszka Kotlarska's death in the year 1996 shocked many. She was given a second life after she backed out from boarding a plane that crashed and killed all its passengers. Unfortunately, two months later she was stabbed to death by her stalker.