Pinki Pramanik suspended from railways' job

Kolkata, June 17 (IANS) Asian Games gold medallist Pinki Pramanik, accused of being a male and currently remanded to judicial custody has been suspended by the Eastern Railway, with whom the athlete worked as a ticket collector, an Railways official said Sunday.

“As per the service rules if a person is either in police or judicial custody for 48 hours or more he/she is automatically suspended. Pramanik was remanded to judicial custody Friday and today (Sunday) she stands suspended,” Eastern Railway spokesperson Samir Goswami said.

Pramanik’s suspension can only be revoked if the court absolves the athlete of all charges, added the official.

Officials are also mulling, subject to court’s order, to initiate an enquiry into the physical and medical test which the athlete underwent during her recruitment to the Railways.

Pramanik was arrested late Thursday night and remanded to 14 days’ judicial custody by a court Friday 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.

The athlete who has twice refused to undergo a gender determination test is likely to be taken form the medical examination Monday, police said.