Indian Athlete * Pinki Pramanik * declared Male, charged with Rape. (Pinki Pramanik was arrested on June 14 on a rape and assault co...
Indian Athlete * Pinki Pramanik * declared Male, charged with Rape.
(Pinki Pramanik was arrested on June 14 on a rape and assault complaint by a live-in partner.)
KOLKATA: After months of speculation over Pinki Pramanik's gender and whether the middle-distance runner was capable of sexual assault, the athlete was on Monday charged with rape. Police filed a chargesheet against the Asian Games gold medal winner on the basis of a DNA test conducted in Hyderabad in June.
Pinki was arrested on June 14 on a rape and assault complaint by a live-in partner. It led to three medical tests that failed to establish the athlete's gender or prove conclusively if the accused was capable of rape. Pinki was later released on bail.
The athlete has now been charged under sections 376 (rape), 417 (impersonation), 420 (cheating), 325 (assault) and 506 (intimidation), 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of a lawful marriage). A medical report submitted by cops in a court after investigation classified Pinki as male.
Quoting the test report, additional public prosecutor Shantamoy Bose said Pinki was "capable of having intercourse as a normal male and had all the facets required for sexual activities."
Based on the medical test done by a board of doctors at the state-run SSKM hospital in Kolkata, the police filed a chargesheet against Pinki charging the athlete with rape and cheating as well as charges of holding out threats.
The live-in partner had alleged that Pinki was a male and had raped her, which led to Pinki's arrest on June 14 and an order for medical examination to confirm the gender was issued. The former middle-distance runner, who won the 4x400 m relay gold in 2006 Doha Asian Games, was freed from jail on July 11 pending disposal of all cases.
The athlete's arrest and imprisonment had sparked an outcry over gender discrimination and the manner in which gender tests were conducted.
The tainted athlete's lawyer Manab Sanyal said he was yet to go through the chargesheet. "I will make a comment only after I have seen the charges," he said.
Experts said they were not surprised by the findings of the chromosome (DNA) test. Pinki's aggression and a tendency to lapse into a fit of rage suggested she suffered from a condition known as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplacia (CAH), they said.
Triggered by a secretion of male hormone adrenalin, the condition is classified as a form of Disorder of Sexual Differentiation (DSD) and leads females to develop male physical attributes and behaviour. CAH patients were also likely to suffer from depression or euphoria. DSD is genetic and the first symptoms could be evident in a child as early as three years to four years. Psychological repercussions follow soon since a child needs to have a sexual identity by the time he or she is five years old.
"That is the time when a child has to know its gender. If it can't, then the child starts feeling isolated. It grows with time and could be irreversible by the time it reaches adolescence," said medical genetic consultant Kaushik Mondol.
CAH patients are generally incapable of normal sexual activity, according to fertility expert Rohit Gutgutiya. "The clitoris gets enlarged and starts looking like a phallus. But it's not the real male organ and therefore it's difficult for such people to either have a normal sex life or rape a woman," said Gutgutiya.
Investigators said though they had given Pinki the benefit of doubt initially, during the probe they started suspecting that the allegation could be true. "Even though the charge seemed fabricated to begin with, the evidence suggested otherwise. The test report has confirmed the fears," an investigator said.
TIMELINE:
June 13: Complaint filed
June 14: Pinki Pramanik arrested on
June 25: DNA test conducted at SSKM
July 11: Pinki released on bail
What is CAH?
CAH leads a female to develop male features. They have to be administered cortiso-steroid to neutralize the male hormones. Detectable very early, often at birth. Patients tend to have a partially formed vagina, an enlarged phallus and grow facial hair as they reach adolescence. Female reproductive organs, like the uterus, are generally missing. There have been instances of such patients bearing a child, though it is rare, say experts.
Treatment
Treatment can take anything between three and six years, depending on the extent of the disorder, say experts. Both androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) and congenital androgen hyperplacia (CAH) - the two most common disorders of sexual development (DSD) - are curable to the extent that could help a person carry out a normal social life. It can very rarely restore their reproductive abilities.
