India’s star sprinter Dutee Chand in a press conference on Tuesday, 21 May, revealed that she had been forced to come out to the public about her relationship due to the constant blackmail she had been facing from her sister.
Chand became the first mainstream Indian sportsperson to reveal that she is in a same-sex relationship, when she told the world about her “soulmate” who is a girl from her hometown of Chaka Gopalpur.
“I was being mentally tortured. I was being blackmailed by my elder sister, Saraswati Chand. Everybody, including the villagers and the girl’s family, all knew about my relationship. But my sister used to always threaten that she’d make it public. [...] One or two months ago, she asked me for Rs 25 lakh, and threatened to make my relationship public if I refused. I was nervous, I thought my fans would hate me.”Dutee Chand
The 23-year-old athlete said her sister would threaten to reveal her sexuality to the media if she didn’t give money for the house.
“Whenever I failed to or delayed giving money for any household needs, she would threaten to expose me to the media. I used to give her money. A few days ago, she had even beaten me up. I had lodged a police complaint but they made us reach a compromise.”
“So I thought I'd reveal it before she makes it public. Now everybody knows. I’ve not decided when to get married,” Dutee said.
‘Who Gave Media the Right to Reveal My Partner’s Identity?’
In the press conference in Bhubaneswar, Dutee also lashed out at the media for revealing her partner’s name and photos without her consent.
“I had not revealed the name, identity or photographs of my partner. But many media houses have made her photo viral, got bites of her parents and revealed her name and address. Who gave them that right?”Dutee Chand
Further, on the claims that she had neglected her family, the Asian Games silver medallist said, “We are six sisters, total 9 members in the family. Why are my mother and sister only talking to media? My mother has claimed that I was not supporting the family. You see my career, I got my job in OMC in 2017, my salary was only Rs 30,000. Then in 2018, CM Naveen Patnaik gave me Rs 3 crore. As a daughter, I've done whatever was possible.”
“My mother, whatever she is claiming must have said under pressure. She must have been threatened by someone,” added the athlete.
Dutee also said, I’ve struggled hard to come this far. I fought for two years against the allegations of male hormones. If my family is now blaming me, when I’m being insulted, it’s an insult to Odisha too.”
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