Kolkata: A West Bengal court Friday rejected the bail plea of Asiad gold medallist runner Pinki Pramanik, accused of being a male, and sent the athlete to judicial custody till July 12 for alleged rape.
"The court of chief judicial magistrate, Barasat, (North 24-Parganas) Anita Mathur, rejected the bail plea of Pinki and remanded her to further judicial custody till July 12," the athlete's counsel Tuhin Roy told IANS.
The court also allowed the prosecution plea to take Pramanik for a chromosomal test to conclusively determine her gender.
The athlete has twice undergone gender determination tests in two different government hospitals but on both the occasions the tests were inconclusive.
"In the name of gender test, Pinki is being taken from one hospital to another, which has been causing her mental trauma and physical harassment. We have, therefore, requested the court to decide a particular hospital where adequate facilities are available and tests to determine her gender can be ascertained conclusively," added Roy.
An 11-member medical board consisting of doctors from the government-run SSKM Hospital was constituted and conducted several tests on Pinki June 25. However, due to the lack of facilities, Karyotyping - a choromosomal test - could not be carried out.
The athlete's June 19 test at another government hospital in North 24 Parganas also was inconclusive, following which the athlete was referred to the SSKM.
Pramanik was arrested June 14 and remanded in 14 days' judicial custody by a court June 15 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.
Subsequent to the arrest, Pramanik was taken to a private nursing home for a medical check-up where the test reports claimed that the former top notch athlete was indeed a male.
Pramanik, however, claimed innocence and said it was a conspiracy.
Pramanik, who retired from athletics three years ago, won gold in the 4x400 metres relay at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha in Qatar. The runner was a silver medallist at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games the same year.
The Eastern Railway, with which the athlete is a ticket collector, suspended Pramanik June 16 following her remand in judicial custody. (IANS)
