Senior officers cite recruitment regulation and eligibility criteria for male and female candidates to reject her plea; constable to move court
The Maharashtra police prefer this Beed constable remain a policewoman, and not become a policeman. Top officers have rejected the application of Lalita Salve, 29, who had written to them, asking for a month's leave to undergo gender reassignment surgery. The Beed police said her application was rejected based on recruitment regulations and eligibility criteria, which are different for men and women.
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Lalita Salve
Citing "a huge difference" between the recruitment requirement for male and female candidates, Special Inspector General (Aurangabad range) Milind Bharambe told mid-day, "We have rejected her plea on the basis of recruitment regulations and eligibility. We've heard the applicant is expected to move court; we will follow its ruling."
Constable Lalita Salve
The criteria
For male candidates, the required height is 165 cm, while for the women, it's 161 cm. For the men, the chest measurement needs to be between 79 and 84 cm; for the women, there's no such requirement.
Also read: Woman cop from Beed seeks leave to undergo sex change operation, wants to resume duty as a man
Salve, posted at Majalgaon in Beed district, had written to Superintendent of Police Shidhar Govindrajan and Director General of Police Satish Mathur, seeking a month's leave for the operation and to be referred to as a male constable after it.
Also read - Mumbai: Transgender couple's marriage on hold as registrar stays 'confused'
The constable, who has been serving in the force since 2010, took the decision to change her gender after feeling "she was a man trapped in a woman's body" due to what she described as hormonal imbalances. She said that for the last four years she had been noticing changes in her physical appearance that could "happen only to men", and that, she added, convinced her that she was meant to be a man.
Lawyer speak
Her lawyer Dr Syed Ejaz Abbas Naqvi said, "My client has undergone medical treatment at JJ hospital, wherein doctors have advised her to undergo the surgery... As of now, we haven't received any rejection from the top officers. Once the order copy is received, I will discuss it with my client and move court." Naqvi said he was seeking necessary orders as per the Maharashtra Police Rules, to ensure the cop's right to equality and life.
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