Female Indian athlete who won relay gold medal 'revealed to be a man' after rape charge
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Indian authorities investigating a rape case say a sprinter who won a women's relay gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games is actually a man.
Police charged Pinki Pramanik on Monday with raping and assaulting a woman she was living with in the eastern state of West Bengal. The woman alleged Pramanik was a man who had reneged on a promise to marry her.
Indian authorities said an eight-member medical board submitted a gender test along with the charge sheet that concluded Pramanik was genetically male.
Pramanik has denied the charges, calling them a "huge conspiracy," and said that contrary to the police claims, the medical report concluded that she was incapable of committing rape, New Delhi Television reported.
Pramanik said that the medical board told her that she had "symptoms of excess male hormones as after-effect of some of the drugs I had taken during my sports career."
Pramanik also said that she hadn't been given a copy of the medical report.
The athlete was arrested on June 14 after the woman's complaint. She was freed on bail in July after spending more than 20 days in jail.
Another Indian medalist at the 2006 Asian Games, Santhi Soundarajan, was stripped of the women's 800 meters silver medal after failing a gender test shortly after the games.
AP
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments