TN coach claims police asked her to prove gender, sparks outrage

A female coach at the Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority(SDAT) was allegedly asked by the police prove her gender with a certificate during an inquiry over a two year old complaint she had filed against her male colleague.

The former athlete Santhi Soundararajan who has won 12 international medals was employed as the women athletic coach by the Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority of India.

In 2018, Santhi filed an official complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Caste alleging caste and gender based discrimination by fellow coach Rajan Abraham.

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Based on the directions from NCSC, Vepery police in Chennai had filed a case against Rajan Abraham and were inquiring. Recently, Vepery Assistant Commissioner of Police, G Harikumar had asked for her statement regarding the complaint.

According to the police, during the course of inquiry, it was found there was no prima facie evidence on the complaint of caste based discrimination while there was indeed a prima facie case of gender based discrimination.

“The police officer asked Santhi to provide a certificate to prove her gender. It is completely unacceptable. It is condemnable. The Tamil Nadu police must take action against the concerned police officer,” said Gopi Shankar, South Madurai Regional Representative of National Council for Transgender Persons, a statutory authority under the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Shankar said Santhi informed her about what had happened during the course of inquiry. “Since she is a government employee, she cannot speak to the media. Soon after the incident, she informed me and we from the NCTP have taken it up,” he said.

“According to a Supreme Court ruling, every person has the right to self identify their gender and no test can validate it or challenge it. Fitness tests done during sports events are different. Apart from that, the police or court has no right to question gender identity/ expression,” she said.

Assistant Commissioner G Harikumar denied the charges and declined to say anything further.

However, a senior police officer in the Greater Chennai Police said that an internal inquiry has been initiated in this regard and appropriate action would be taken if found true.

Santhi was stripped of a silver medal won at the 2006 Asian Games after failing a sex verification test which disputed her eligibility to participate in the women’s competition. She caught media attention after she was found working at a brick kiln in Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu to support her family.

Subsequently, the Sports Ministry enrolled Santhi for the one-year diploma course in sports coaching at Sports Authority of India, Bangalore, in 2013.

After completing the course, Santhi in July 2014 was posted at the Sports Authority of India, Special Area Games, near Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam district and appointed as coach on contract.

In 2016, she was appointed women’s athletic coach at Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority of India in Chennai.