Pinki Pramanik resumes work

Athlete Pinki Pramanik, who was suspended from her job in Eastern Railway following allegations of rape against her, has resumed work.

The suspension came as per service rules that say an employee is deemed to be suspended if he or she spends 48 hours in police custody. After the grant of bail, she submitted a copy of the order and the suspension was revoked, Samir Goswami, chief public relations officer of Eastern Railway, said here on Friday.

Ms. Pramanik was asked to join duty as a ticket inspector at the Sealdah Railway Station on Thursday, he said.

Ms. Pramanik was arrested on June 14 after a woman filed a police complaint, claiming that she was raped and tortured by the athlete. Following this, questions about Ms. Pramanik’s gender rose and several rounds of tests, including chromosomal tests, were conducted on her.

Eventually, the District and Sessions Judge of Barasat Court granted bail to Ms. Pramanik 25 days after the arrest.

Ms. Pramanik, who has alleged ill-treatment by the police when she was in custody, recently appeared before a panel of the State’s Human Rights Commission.

In her submission to the Commission, she alleged that the police forced her to undergo the gender determination test and kept her in a prison cell meant for male inmates. She was escorted to court by male police personnel, she said.

She also alleged that although she was arrested within an hour after the complaint was lodged, the police did not take any steps against the complainant, despite several complaints that Ms. Pramanik had filed against her.

Shockingly, a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) clip that appears to be taken during one of occasions when a gender test was conducted on the athlete was leaked.

However, Human Rights Commission officials said that since the Cyber Crime cell of the Kolkata police have started investigation into the circulation of the clip, the Commission will not conduct an inquiry.