Maharashtra: Transgender Constable To Be Allowed To Stay In Service After Sex-Change Surgery

Lalitha Salve, a woman constable from Beed, Maharashtra, who wanted to undergo a sex-change surgery and serve as a male constable has been finally given a positive response. The State law department has said that they will treat her case as special.

Background

Salve, 29, joined the force in June 2010. Last year in September, she sought a month vacation for a sex change operation, reported The Times of India. When her request was rejected by her seniors, she forwarded her plea to the Bombay High Court.

In her plea, she said doctors who examined her found that she suffers from gender dysphoria, a condition in which emotional and psychological identity are at odds with one’s biological sex.

She met with the CM Devendra Fadnavis and forwarded her plea on March 21. The CM said that her department should consider her plea favourably. “I met CM on March 21 in connection with my case. He assured me that the matter will be resolved on an urgent basis,” Salve, who is posted at Majalgaon Police Station in Beed said, as reported by Business Standard.

Her report was forwarded to the Director-General of Police who put the onus on the government to take a decision.

A senior official from the legal department has said that as an employee she has rights. “Salve has been facing biological changes within her body, which is a natural phenomenon. She is not doing so deliberately. Going by this reasoning, her case must be taken positively and treated as an exceptional one,” said an official.

The Logical Indian commends the Maharashtra law department’s decision in the right direction toward LGBTQ rights.