Reposted by ER Lucke (she/her)
This courage— from the woman who witnessed and filmed Alex Pretti’s murder—is like nothing I’ve ever seen OMG 😭 Thank you to Senator Blumenthal and Rep. Garcia for giving Stella an opportunity to finally tell her story.
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Death of Pratima Gaonkar
Indian athlete
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 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]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sefgphqp2xqwh2hawaixykwz/bafkreidzpipllqrglnz7omxdjxvnifd4qvcrtufvtpkjndwilj7ca4te2m)
