A landmark judgment of the Supreme Court last year had made same sex relationships between consenting adults a non-criminal act, though marriage between such individuals is still not legal in India.

She said another reason for coming out in the open was that she did not want the same thing that happened with sprinter Pinki Pramanik, who was accused of rape by her live-in partner, to happen to her.

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.

Dutee, who was banned for one year by the international athletics federation in 2014 for having a higher testosterone (male sex hormone) level than was permissible, hails from Chaka Gopalpur village at Jajpur district of Odisha. She was born to Chakradhar Chand and Akhuji Chand.

Dutee won a landmark 'gender' case against the IAAF in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration in 2015 and she was allowed to compete after being banned for one year.