KOLKATA – After months of speculation over Pinki Pramanik’s gender and whether the middle-distance runner was capable of sexual assault, the athlete was on Monday charged with rape. Police filed a chargesheet against the Asian Games gold medal winner on the basis of a DNA test conducted in Hyderabad in June.
Pinki was arrested on June 14 on a rape and assault complaint by a live-in partner. It led to three medical tests that failed to establish the athlete’s gender or prove conclusively if the accused was capable of rape. Pinki was later released on bail.
The athlete has now been charged under sections 376 (rape), 417 (impersonation), 420 (cheating), 325 (assault) and 506 (intimidation), 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of a lawful marriage). A medical report submitted by cops in a court after investigation classified Pinki as male.
Quoting the test report, additional public prosecutor Shantamoy Bose said Pinki was “capable of having intercourse as a normal male and had all the facets required for sexual activities.”
Based on the medical test done by a board of doctors at the state-run SSKM hospital in Kolkata, the police filed a chargesheet against Pinki charging the athlete with rape and cheating as well as charges of holding out threats.
The live-in partner had alleged that Pinki was a male and had raped her, which led to Pinki’s arrest on June 14 and an order for medical examination to confirm the gender was issued. The former middle-distance runner, who won the 4×400 m relay gold in 2006 Doha Asian Games, was freed from jail on July 11 pending disposal of all cases.
The athlete’s arrest and imprisonment had sparked an outcry over gender discrimination and the manner in which gender tests were conducted.
