Death of Pratima Gaonkar explained

On 9 October 2001,[1] Pratima Gaonkar, a young Indian intersex athlete and swimmer, was found dead in a well in Goa. The cause was identified as death by suicide; this was in turn was caused by Gaonkar's reaction to the disclosure and public commentary surrounding a failed sex verification test.[2] [3] [4] Gaonkar was reportedly the subject of blackmail attempts, including an accusation by her mother that her coach was accusing her.[5]

Originally from the village of Sadgal, Goa, three months prior to her death she won silver medal in the 4×400 relay in the Junior Asian Athletics Championships in Brunei.[6] She had previously broken all the Goan state-level records for her discipline.

In the aftermath of her death, media attention and reportage was invasive, with a press conference discussing her body in detail.[7] [8] The public discourse which surrounded her death as an intersex athlete has led to comparisons with Dutee Chand and Caster Semenya.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2022-01-21 . Goa News Mystery of Pratima's suicide (By: SANDESH PRABHUDESAI, PANAJI) . 2022-11-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220121113409/https://goanews.com/news_disp.php?newsid=7&catid=220 . 2022-01-21 .
  2. News: Koshie . Nihal . 9 September 2018 . The rising star who ended her life much before Dutee Chand challenged the rules . . 10 September 2018.
  3. News: Nagvenkar . Mayabhushan . 21 July 2012 . Goa's Pinki Pramanik . Newslaundry . 10 September 2018.
  4. Posbergh . Anna . 2019-08-12 . Same Tricks, New Name: The IAAF's New 2018 Testosterone Regulation Policy for Female Athletes . The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion . en . 3 . 3 . 10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965 . 2574-3430. free .
  5. News: Broadbent . Rick . IAAF must let Caster Semenya run . . en . 2022-11-05 . 0140-0460.
  6. Web site: Pratima GAONKAR Profile World Athletics . 2022-11-06 . worldathletics.org.
  7. Book: Dohle, Max . "They say I'm not a girl": Case Studies of Gender Verification in Elite Sports . 2020-06-19 . McFarland . 978-1-4766-3701-3 . en.
  8. Book: Behind the News: Voices from Goa's Press . 2008 . Goa1556 . 978-81-905682-0-3 . en.
  9. Web site: 2021-10-16 . 5 Female Athletes Around The World Who Have Been Subjected To Gender & Sex Tests . 2022-11-06 . ScoopWhoop . en.