The state police headquarters has rejected the application of a 29-year-old woman constable of the Beed police seeking to undergo a sex change operation and continuing in the force as a male constable.
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Additional director general of police Rajender Singh (establishment) told TOI, "The police manual, recruitment norms and service rules leave us with no scope to give her a positive reply. This is the first such case in the history of the Maharashtra police. Citing all legal grounds, we have sent our reply to the Beed police."
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The reply reached the Beed police late on Saturday and is set to be communicated to the woman constable on Monday morning. Beed superintendent of police G Sreedhar confirmed having received the reply from the state headquarters. "We have received the letter turning down the woman's plea. I will call her on Monday morning and tell her about the letter," he said.
The officer said that after the reply is handed over to the constable, she would be free to take a call on any future course of action.
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Aurangabad range inspector general of police Milind Bharambe, who is coordinating with the director-general of police's (DGP) office as well as the Beed district police, echoed Singh's observations.
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"There are serious legal grounds for denying her permission to continue as a male cop in the force after a sex change operation. She was recruited as a woman constable. The selection parameters for women are different than those for men," he said. Bharambe said there was also no clause in the service rules to replace a woman constable's post with that for a male cop. "Women are recruited under the 30% reservation quota and no male cop can be recruited in a post reserved for a woman," he said.
The woman constable was recruited by the Beed police in 2009. Recently, she had gone to Mumbai to take treatment for some abnormalities she has been experiencing for about four years.
Following a series of tests, she learnt that she was suffering from a gender identity disorder due to hormonal imbalance. She then wrote the application to the Beed SP as well as the DGP office seeking permission for the sex change operation.