Death of Pratima Gaonkar

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,[2] three months prior to her death she won silver medal in the 4×400 relay in the Junior Asian Athletics Championships in Brunei.[2][6] She had previously broken all the Goan state-level records for her discipline.[3]

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]

References
  1. "Goa News |Mystery of Pratima's suicide (By: SANDESH PRABHUDESAI, PANAJI)". 2022-01-21. Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  2. Koshie, Nihal (9 September 2018). "The rising star who ended her life much before Dutee Chand challenged the rules". The Indian Express. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  3. Nagvenkar, Mayabhushan (21 July 2012). "Goa's Pinki Pramanik". Newslaundry. Retrieved 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. 3 (3). doi:10.33137/ijidi.v3i3.32965. ISSN 2574-3430.
  5. Broadbent, Rick. "IAAF must let Caster Semenya run". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
  6. "Pratima GAONKAR | Profile | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  7. Dohle, Max (2020-06-19). "They say I'm not a girl": Case Studies of Gender Verification in Elite Sports. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-3701-3.
  8. Behind the News: Voices from Goa's Press. Goa1556. 2008. ISBN 978-81-905682-0-3.
  9. "5 Female Athletes Around The World Who Have Been Subjected To Gender & Sex Tests". ScoopWhoop. 2021-10-16. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
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