Former athlete Pinki Pramanik gets bail

Kolkata, July 10 (IANS) A West Bengal court Tuesday granted bail to Asiad gold medallist Pinki Pramanik, who after being accused of being a male had been under judicial custody since June 15 for alleged rape, the athlete's counsel said.

"Pinki was granted bail today by the court district judge North 24 Parganas on a personal bond of Rs.5,000," Tuhin Roy, the counsel, told IANS.

Reports of a chromosomal test to determine Pramanik's gender are also slated to be submitted before the court by the SSKM Hospital. An 11-member medical board was constituted to conduct the tests.

Pramanik was arrested June 14 and remanded to 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 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.

null