Pramanik's blood samples collected for gender test

The athlete has been accused of being a male, and is currently under judicial custody for alleged rape.

"Pinki was brought under police custody to collect the blood sample required for the karyotyping test (to determine the choromosom pattern). The sample will be sent to a hospital in either Mumbai or Hyderabad," Prof Tuhin Kanti Ghosh, superintendent at SSKM hospital here, told PTI.

"We are expecting the results by 10 days," he added.

The samples will be sent outside as the city hospital does not have the faility to determine gender.

Today's development was a result of a direcrtive by the Barasat court here.

The court last Friday directed submission of Pramanik's chromosome pattern report to determine her sex while extending the athlete's judicial remand to July 12.

Chief Judicial Magistrate, Barasat, Anita Mathur directed that Pramanik's blood samples be sent to Hyderabad or Mumbai for the chromosome pattern test, known as karyotyping, to establish the gender of the athlete, whose prayer for bail had been rejected.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that an MMS clipping of the athlete completely naked and undergoing tests at a private nursing home has gone viral online.

"Yes, even I heard it from the scribes, but I can assure that the gender determination test that was conducted at SSKM was foolproof," Ghosh said.

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.

Pramanik bagged three gold medals in the 2006 SAF Games in Colombo when she won the 400m, 800m and 4x400m relay events.