My own sister is blackmailing me and asked for Rs 25 lakh: Dutee Chand

From the time India’s fastest woman Dutee Chand opened up about her relationship with same sex-woman, she has faced a tough battle of acceptance in her family. Dutee, who won two silver medals at the 2018 Asian Games, became one of the few athletes in the world to openly admit same-sex relationship.

“I am having a relationship with a 19-year-old woman from my village for the past five years. She is studying B.A. 2nd year in a Bhubaneswar college. She is a relative of mine and whenever I come home, I spend time with her. She is a kind of soul-mate for me and I want to settle down with her in future,” Chand, 23, told PTI.

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While addressing the media on Tuesday, she said that her sister has started to blackmail her and asked for Rs 25 Lakhs.

“My own sister is black mailing me, she asked me for Rs 25 lakh. She had once beaten me, I'd reported to the police. Since she was blackmailing me, I was forced to come out about my relationship. My eldest sister feels that my partner is interested in my property. She has told me that she will send me to jail for having this relationship,” she said.

Dutee said her partner is free to marry whoever she wants to if she decides to do so in future.

“I will continue my athletics career. I am going to take part in the World University Games next month and hope to qualify for the World Championships later this year. My aim to qualify for next year’s Olympics, so I am training hard,” she said.

While Dutee refused to name her partner, she said the Supreme Court judgement on the issue gave her the courage to go public.

“My partner also agreed that we should make this public and face whatever repercussions it may bring to us. I believe in individual freedom and right to decide how and with whom I will live my life.” She said another reason for coming out in the open was that she did not want something which happened with sprinter Pinki Pramanik, who was accused of rape by her live-in partner.

Pinki was a member of the 2006 Asian Games 4x400m relay gold winning team. “We did not want this kind of situation happening in future,” Dutee said.