The National Council for Transgender Persons (NCTP) has taken suo-motu cognizance of an article about athlete Shanthi Soundararajan published in Tamil magazine Kumudham, in which her coach had made objectionable reference to her gender identity.
The NCTP had also sought an on-record complaint from Santhi. In her complaint, Santhi alleged that her coach Rajan Abraham had repeatedly harassed her on the basis of her gender identity and caste.
NCTP Southern Representative Gopi Shankar Madurai issued a press release stating that the body has taken cognizance of the repeated harassment meted out to Santhi by her coach Rajan Abraham and the defamatory article published in Kumudham. He said that he will be taking necessary action against the media house and the journalist who wrote the article.
“I will be serving notices to Abraham Rajan, the media house and other competent authorities seeking an explanation for their biased actions. A complaint has also been filed by the Athlete Santhi Soundarajan and based on the response received from the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and others concerned, a complaint will be lodged or the case will be taken up to the concerned authorities”, the press release by Gopi Shankar read.
The NCTP would file a criminal defamation complaint if it did not receive the replies within 30 days, he said.
Santhi who hails from Kathakurichi village in Pudukottai district belongs to the Scheduled Caste community. She is the first Tamil woman to win a medal at the Asian Games. She was stripped of the silver medal she won at the 2006 Asian Games for failing a ‘sex verification test’ which made her ineligible to participate in women’s competition. Rajan Abraham in his recent interview to Kumudham made remarks legitimising the gender test on Santhi, which was ruled unscientific by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2015.
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