Rape Charge Against Pinki Pramanik Dropped by Calcutta High Court
Pinki was accused by her live-in partner Anamika Acharya of being a male who raped her, which led to Pinki's arrest on June 14, 2012 and an order for medical examination to confirm the gender was issued.
It was a big victory for Pinki Pramanik after the Calcutta High Court dropped all charges against the Asian Games gold medallist.
She had been arrested, kept in custody for 25 days and forced to undergo a sex verification test to determine her gender. She had appealed to the High Court in 2013.
Pinki got bail and the trial was to begin in a lower court. But that's when Pinki, with the support of lawyers and gender activists, appealed to Calcutta High Court in 2013 for charges against her to be dropped.
On Friday, Justice Subrata Talukdar ordered that all charges framed against Prinki be quashed and the charge sheet has also been dropped.
"I am very relieved," said Pinki Pramanik who works with Indian Railways.
"I have suffered terrible mental torture for over two years. Even now, when I am on duty at Sealdah station, people pass comments. With today's order, I hope all that will end."
Pinki Pramanik has the option of seeking the prosecution of the woman who falsely accused her and the police who gender tested her without her consent or court order.
"I would be very happy if they were punished," she said.
"I will decide on pursuing the matter against them in the coming days.
Anand Grover, Supreme Court lawyer, and Kaushik Gupta of Kolkata argued Pinki's case in the High Court. Payoshni Mitra, who is an expert on gender issues in sport, pursued the matter.
"I am very happy the court has quashed the charges against Pinki," said Payoshni.
"It is high time there was greater awareness of gender variations and greater sensitivity in handling them."
The athlete was 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.