A woman athlete has been held on allegations of rape and charges that she is actually a man.
Pinki Pramanik was arrested by Indian police in West Bengal state after a
complaint from her live-in partner, who is a woman.
The gold medal winning runner has denied the charges and accused her partner of lying.
She refused to prove her gender, but now a court has ordered health officials to carry out a sex test after remanding her in custody.
The magistrate said the jailer and investigating officer will decide in which ward (male or female) Pramanik will be kept.
'We will go by the custody warrant. If the order suggests that Pinki is the daughter of the parents, then the former athlete will be put in the female ward, or else otherwise', said a senior jail official.
The Times of India quoted the athlete as saying: 'I have undergone numerous tests in my career as an athlete. Why should I agree to more ridiculous tests?'
Pramanik won gold in the 4x400m relay in the 2006 Doha Asian Games and a silver in the same event at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
She also won three gold medals in the 2006 SAF Games in Colombo when she won the 400m, 800m and 4x400m relay events.
Pramanik was arrested last Thursday after her partner, a divorcee and a mother of one, claimed she had been repeatedly raped and tortured by the athlete for several months.
The woman alleged Pramanik had confessed that the Indian medical board was bribed to hide the fact she was a man and she was forced to quit the sport as there were chances of getting caught.
She claimed: 'Pinki started torturing me when I refused to pay money. I have paid money by selling ornaments.'
Another 2006 Asian Games medallist, Santhi Soundarajan, was stripped of the women’s 800 metres silver medal after failing a gender test.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is shocked at the possibility of a second such embarrassment.
'It’s a tricky situation now and we are waiting for an official report on her medical test,' said AFI secretary C.K. Valson.
'We can’t take any decision unless we have the report with us.'
-Dailymail
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