Pinki Pramanik suspended from railways` job

Kolkata: Asian Games gold medallist Pinki Pramanik, accused of being a male and currently remanded to judicial custody has been suspended by the Eastern Railway, with whom the athlete worked as a ticket collector, a Railways official said Sunday.

"As per the service rules if a person is either in police or judicial custody for 48 hours or more he/she is automatically suspended. Pramanik was remanded to judicial custody Friday and Sunday, she stands suspended," Eastern Railway spokesperson Samir Goswami said. Pramanik`s suspension can only be revoked if the court absolves the athlete of all charges, added the official. Officials are also mulling, subject to court`s order, to initiate an enquiry into the physical and medical test which the athlete underwent during her recruitment to the Railways. Pramanik was arrested late Thursday night and remanded to 14 days` judicial custody by a court Friday after the athlete`s live-in partner, a divorcee and a mother of one, filed a police complaint accusing the athlete of being a male who repeatedly "raped and tortured" her. The athlete who has twice refused to undergo a gender determination test is likely to be taken from the medical examination Monday, police said. IANS