Calcutta HC quashes rape charges against Pinki Pramanick

Calcutta high court on Friday shot down the rape and other criminal charges against the international athlete Pinki Pramanick slapped by the Baguihati police in a chargesheet last year.

Calcutta high court on Friday shot down the rape and other criminal charges against the international athlete Pinki Pramanick slapped by the Baguihati police in a chargesheet last year.

Pramanick was accused of raping, assaulting and cheating her roommate, who had lodged a complaint in 2012.

Justice Subrata Talukdar, however, quashed the chargesheet against Pramanick on her petition filed through advocates Anand Grover and Kaushik Gupta.

Pramanick's advocates had argued that her medical test revealed that she was not a male, therefore, she could not be charged with raping another woman.

“A female could not be charged with cheating another female by having sex by promising to marry her. There was also no medical report of alleged assault on her roommate,” Grover had argued in the court.

The story began on June 14, 2012, when Pramanick was arrested for allegedly raping and assaulting her female roommate in Baguihati. She was a married woman who was separated from her husband.

However, after 25 days, the chief judicial magistrate at North 24-Parganas released her on bail.

The police then filed the charge sheet against Pramanick, who alleged that a conspiracy had been hatched against her.

The police, however, faced severe criticism for keeping the athlete in a male prison and escorting her by policemen.

Challenging the chargesheet. Pramanick moved the high court, which stayed the proceeding against her.