Female athlete ‘a man’ and raped me, ex-lover tells Kolkata court

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KOLKATA, India: A female Indian athlete who won a gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games appeared in court yesterday charged with raping her former lover who has alleged that she is actually a man.

Pinki Pramanik was remanded in custody for 14 days to await trial on allegations that she repeatedly raped her female live-in partner.

“The court magistrate asked the authorities to constitute a medical board for determining the gender of Pinki,” Prabir Roy, who heads the police station on the outskirts of Kolkata where Pramanik was arrested, told AFP.

Pramanik, who retired in 2007, declined to take a medical examination at a government-run hospital when she was questioned on Thursday.

“She has brought false charges against me as I refused to give her 300,000 rupees (US$5,400),” Pramanik told reporters from the back of a police van before the court hearing.

“Truth will prevail,” she said.

Pramanik on Thursday had said she had undergone numerous medical check-ups during her running career and added, “Why should I agree to more ridiculous tests?”

“Pinki poses as a woman but is actually a man,” the victim was quoted as saying in Friday’s Calcutta Telegraph. “She would assault me regularly and raped me several times.”

She also claimed that Pramanik had promised to marry her. — AFP