Indian female athlete, Pinki Pramanik, has been arrested after her live-in partner, also a woman, accused her of raping her. The live-in partner also allegedly claimed that the athlete is actually a male.
Pramanik was arrested late Thursday and was taken to Baguiati police station in Kolkata after a complaint from her live-in partner. Police approached the court seeking permission to carry out a medical test on the athlete. The court granted the permission and the alleged test will be conducted at a government hospital.
However, the middle-distance runner denied the allegations against her and accused the alleged victim, whose identity has not been revealed, of falsehoods and conspiracy against her.
"It's a clear case of conspiracy," Pramanik said. Pramanik has refused to take a medical test to determine her gender and said that she took part in various international events where gender test have already been done.
"I have undergone numerous tests in my career as an athlete. Why should I agree to more ridiculous tests?" The Times of India quoted Pramanik as saying on Friday.
Following the report she was taken to a private nursing home for a medical test where the reports claimed that she is a male. However, she refused to undergo a second medical test at a government-run hospital.
"A woman had lodged a complaint of rape with the police station following which Pramanik was arrested and would appear in court later Friday. She was taken to a government-run hospital for medical test, but she refused to sit for it," Prabir Roy, the duty officer at the Baguiati police station, told AFP.
According to police, Pramanik has been living with the alleged victim in Kolkata for several months. The victim in her complaint has alleged that Pramanik has forced for a live-in relationship promising marriage. The victim has also mentioned in her comments that she was often tortured and raped.
"The complaint stated that the woman athlete was a male and has been cohabiting with her for the past several months with a promise to marry her, but later denied," Press Trust of India quoted a senior police officer in Baguihati town as saying.
The Athletics Federation of India has said that without police investigation and medical test they would not take any actions against Pramanik.
However, Pramanik is not the first Indian athlete who is accused of being male. Another Indian athlete, Santhi Soundarajan, was stripped of the women's 800 meters silver medal after failing a gender verification test.
