Today the Bombay High Court is expected to hear the plea of Bidhan Barua, a youngster from Assam who wants to undergo a sex change operation. In his plea, Bidha seeks to restrain his partents who are against the procedure and are attempting to stop him from undergoing it. Earlier he had threatened to kill himself because the court refused to hear his case on an urgent basis and had been reprimanded by the court.
Bidhan’s lawyer maintains that his client has been wronged. His parents have apparently frozen his bank account and this is an infringement of his fundamental rights. Bidhan told reporters last week that he had written letters to Chief Justice of India, Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and National Human Rights Commission urging them to intervene and grant him a favourable order so that he could undergo the sex change surgery or else he will commit suicide. He had written in his application that he is female trapped in a male body and wants to marry a flight lieutenant in the Indian Air Force.
Bidhan, who prefers to be called Swati, alleged that his parents had the stalled the sex change surgery which was supposed to take place on April 17. Bidhan said that it was early in life that he realised that he was a man trapped in a women’s body and would dress in women’s clothes when he was young. His parents were obviously scandalised and would beat him up. When he was in 7th class he realised that sex change operations are possible and has been doing odd jobs after school to earn money for the operation which will cost him anything between Rs 1.5 to Rs 3 lakh.
On March 2 this year, Bidhan underwent a psychiatric test in Guwahati to check whether he was fit enough to undergo such a procedure. As the result was positive, he ran away from home on March 31 and came to Mumbai where he stayed with his cousin. However, his father Supti Ranjan Barua traced him to Mumbai. In Guwahati, Bidhan’s father, who works as a cook, had said earlier that he is concerned about his son and wants him to be happy but cannot understand or accept his insistence on becoming a woman. His father claimed that he wouldn’t be able to live down the humiliation if his son did get his gender changed.
Story Update: Bombay HC rules in favour of Bidhan Barua
