My roommate blackmailed, framed me: Pinki Pramanik

Kolkata: Asian Games gold medallist Pinki Pramanik on Wednesday claimed that she was being blackmailed and framed by her roommate. Speaking to CNN-IBN after walking out of the jail, Pinki said, "My roommate used to blackmail me over my photographs and now she framed me."

Pinki also claimed injustice as she said she was arrested without a medical test. "I was sent to jail without carrying out a medical test. I will never forget the days spent in jail," Pinki said.

Pinki Pramanik finally walked out of jail after 26 days on Wednesday. "I will consult my lawyer and decide my next course of action. I have been framed and that woman is still trying to frame me," Pinki said.

Pinki was granted bail by the North 24 Parganas district court on Tuesday. Pinki was arrested on June 14 following allegations of rape against her.

The former middle-distance runner, who had won the 4x400m relay gold in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, has been accused of being a male and of allegedly raping her live-in partner.

Her 30-year-old line-in partner, an estranged woman, had alleged that Pinki was in fact a male following which the athlete was made to undergo gender determination tests, the results of which are yet to be made public.

Pinki, after her arrest, was initially taken to a private nursing home in Barasat under police custody and later to the Barasat General Hospital for gender tests but the reports were inconclusive as the the athelete was subsequently referred the SSKM Hospital.

But the gender of the athlete could not be determined at the state-run hospital as the facility for the chromosome pattern test was unavailable.

A video clipping purpotedly of the athlete showing her in the nude was circulated as a PIL was moved in the Calcutta High Court on July 6. The court directed the West Bengal government to file an affidavit within two weeks on the progress of the investigation.

The West Bengal Human Rights Commission also stepped in, directing the home, health and police departments to inquire into the alleged "inhuman torture" on the athlete in police and jail custody.

The Eastern Railway middle-distance runner had won a 4x400m relay gold in the 2006 Doha Asiad and a silver in the same event at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Pinki bagged three gold medals in the 2006 SAF Games in Colombo when she won the 400m, 800m and 4x400m relay events.

(With additional information from PTI)