Woman constable moves HC for sex change

In perhaps  a first-of-its-kind development in Indian police forces, a lady constable from the Beed district of Maharashtra on Thursday moved the Bombay High Court seeking to undergo a sex change operation and remain part of the force.

29-year-old Lalita Kumar Salve is now based in Majalgaon in Beed district  in the Marathwada region.

"I have the full support of my parents," Salve told reporters outside the Bombay High Court.

Meanwhile, reports said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked the top brass to allow her to undergo sex change.

Earlier, her application for sex reassignment surgery had  come before Maharahstra Director General of Police Satish Mathur, Inspector General of Police (Aurangabad Range) Milind Bharambe and Superintendent of Police (Beed) G Sreedhar but  was rejected.  

"I  asked the DGP (Satish Mathur) on Wednesday to approve the constable's request for undergoing the surgery. There are some technical and legal issues, but I'm confident that these would be resolved, and Salve would have her wish fulfilled," Fadnavis was quoted saying.

The petition filed by  Salve in the high court says,  "She was female. He/she has developed transsexual gender symptom  in last 2-3 years ago. She started getting  attracted  to members of the same gender  due to chromosomal Y status found in her genes. In the absence of due medical care, she continued to live under serious mental trauma and under social stigma," the  petition  said.

The petition also pointed out that she has undergone a psychiatrist test in Sir J J Hospital  regarding her mental status and sexual problems.

After medical tests, the doctors found that she is suffering from gender dysphoria type abnormality (uniqueness) and needed surgery.

In the petition, Salve  also referred to Article 16 of Constitution,  which  deals with "equality of opportunity in matters of public employment".

The petition said it is Salve's natural right to undergo surgery,  considering  the fundamental right that  the  Constitution allows her to live with dignity.

The petitioner is fit to undergo the physical and mental test required for the males constables, the petition said.