Gold medallist Pinki Pramanik accused of being male, held for `rape`

Kolkata: Asian Games gold medal winning athlete Pinki Pramanik was arrested after a complaint was made that she is a male and has allegedly raped a woman, police said Thursday. “We arrested Pramanik Thursday morning after a woman lodged a complaint of rape, stating that the athlete was a male and has been cohabiting with her for past several months. He promised to marry her but later denied,” said an officer of Baguihati police station in North 24-Parganas where the complaint was made. Following the complaint, Pramanik was taken to a private nursing home for a medical checkup where the test reports showed that the athlete was indeed a male. “We will take Pramanik for a medical checkup to a government-run hospital and after the reports come in, the athlete will be presented before a court,” added the officer. Pramanik won gold in 4×400 metres relay at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. She was a silver medallist at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games the same year. She retired from athletics three years ago. IANS