State cop gets nod for sex-change

A 29-year-old woman police constable from Maharashtra's Beed district has got the go-ahead from authorities to undergo a sex change surgery.

“We received permission from higher-ups recently. Accordingly, the same has been conveyed," Beed Superintendent of Police G Sreedhar told PTI.

Constable Lalita Salve, who now prefers to be called Lalit, had met CM Devendra Fadnavis in March in this regard and was awaiting the state government's permission for undergoing the surgery. She had also sent an application to the state Director General of Police (DGP), requesting permission to undergo the surgery.

"I met CM Fadnavis 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 the Majalgaon Police Station in Beed, said.

Salve had earlier approached the state police department to allow her leave to undergo the sex-change surgery.

The department had then turned down her plea as the eligibility criteria for men and women constables are different, including height and weight. In November last year, she moved the Bombay High Court seeking a direction to the DGP to grant her leave to undergo surgery. She had sought leave for a month to undergo sex reassignment surgery but the request was refused by Beed police authorities, following which she approached the High Court. However, the high court directed her to approach the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal since it was a service matter. "I sought permission for the sex-change surgery, leave for the procedure and expressed my desire to be in the service as a male police constable after the surgery," she had said. She also consulted doctors at the state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai for the sex reassignment surgery.

Salve, born in June 1988, noticed changes in her body about four years ago and underwent medical tests, which confirmed the presence of Y chromosome in her body, according to her petition filed in the high court. While men have X and Y sex chromosomes, women have two X chromosomes. Doctors had said she had gender dysphoria and advised her to undergo a sex reassignment surgery.