Pinki: I was treated like animal, blackmailed

Pinki Pramanik….framed?

Kolkata – Asian Games gold medallist Pinki Pramanik, released from jail on Wednesday, alleged that she was treated like an animal during gender tests and blackmailed for money by the complainant.

“When the gender tests were conducted in the hospital, I was treated like an animal,” said Pinki, who was freed after 26 days in judicial custody for allegedly raping her live-in partner, a divorcee and a mother of one.

The athlete was granted bail by the district and sessions judge of North 24-Parganas district on Tuesday.

Accusing police of harassment, Pinki said: “I was only waiting for my medical report. Police have been harassing me even after my release from the jail.”

Pinki was arrested on June 14 and remanded in judicial custody the next day after the athlete’s partner filed a complaint accusing Pinki of being a male who repeatedly “raped and tortured” her.

The athlete gives a different version.

“She demanded money long back, which I could not give. So she framed me in connivance with the police. She is trying to frame me further,” Pinki said.

“I confronted her when my gold chain was stolen, but she threatened me that she would make my photos with her public. So I was forced into silence.”

The athlete said she told police to conduct a gender test of the complainant too. “But they didn’t listen,” she adds.

Pinki recalled the happenings on June 14 when she was arrested.

“I was forcibly put into a police van. That night, they conducted a medical test on me. I was made unconscious, and when I came to my senses, I found my hands and legs tied up.”

The Asian Games gold medalist is also planning to call on Sports Minister Madan Mitra for help. “My father has already met him,” Pinki said.

Having spent 26 days in jail, Pinki is not sure whether things would be normal again. “These nightmarish memories will be there. I don’t know whether I can ever return to normal life.”

The athlete still seems in a daze after the trauma of jail custody and after being moved from one hospital to another for gender tests.

An MMS of the medical examination, showing the athlete in the nude, went viral online.

“I can’t say where I stand now,” said Pinki, who is from Tilakdi in Purulia district and who bought laurels to the country by winning gold in the 400 metres relay at the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar and a silver at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games the same year.