Lalita Salve, a 29-year-old woman police constable from Maharashtra's Beed district, completed her first sex reassignment surgery (SRS) at the state-run St. George's Hospital on Friday, May 25.
"The first stage of surgery got over successfully today. The second stage operation will be conducted after six months," Dr Rajat Kapoor, plastic surgeon, was quoted as saying by PTI after the surgery.
Born in June 1988, Salve began noticing changes in her body about 4 years ago. After undergoing medical tests, the reports confirmed the presence of Y chromosome in her body. Women have XX chromosomes while men have X and Y sex chromosomes in their bodies.
Salve had recently received the permission from the state government authorities to undergo a sex change surgery.
Kapoor said that Salve's surgery should not be termed as a sex reassignment surgery since she was born with small external genitals, adding that the constable was biologically a male.
Salve was born with small external genitalia that her parents mistook for a female and brought the child up accordingly. Tests done in the past few years have revealed Salve was genetically male with XY sex chromosome.
After receiving a letter from the state home department on Sunday, May 20, Salve got herself admitted to the hospital to undergo the surgery. Earlier, she had undergone a series of procedures like X-ray scan, electrocardiography (ECG) examination and blood tests to prove that she was medically fit for the surgery.
Last year in November, Salve, who is currently posted at the Majalgaon police station in Beed, had moved the Bombay High Court requesting a month's leave for the surgery after she was denied permission by the state police department.
I have lived as a woman for 29 years. I will finally get free from this state now. I am looking forward to my new life," Salve had earlier said.
Salve, who was earlier inducted as a female constable in Maharashtra Police in 2010, now goes by the name Lalit and wants to be re-inducted as a male constable.
