sex change

Aurangabad

Lalit Kumar Salve

genital reconstruction

wedding

Lalita-turned-Lalit is now a husband

Lalita-turned-Lalit is now a husband

She immediately said yes when I proposed marriage —Lalit Salve

Beed policeman, who underwent a sex change operation two years ago to live as male, got married to a woman he has known since childhood at a temple in Aurangabad on Sunday. Lalit, 31, was raised as a female, Lalita Kumari Salve, till he underwentprocedure at St George Hospital in 2018. He married his distant relative Seema, who has been following his gender struggle from the time he realised changes in his body in 2010.Dressed in the white kurta and sporting a thin moustache, Lalit kept thelowkey, with only family members and close relatives in attendance. He told Mumbai Mirror that the wedding was hastily arranged, after he met Seema at a family function a week ago when he proposed to her. “I was surprised when she told me that she has retained all newspaper clippings about my struggle to turn Lalit from Lalita. She immediately said yes when I proposed marriage,” Lalit said. He said that he underwent surgeries in a phased manner over 12 months, the last of which was conducted two months ago.“The doctors said that I don’t need further surgeries,” he said.His bride, aged 22, said that she was confident of having children with Lalit. “He explained the medical procedure he has undergone. I have always admired him for standing up to the society to live life on his terms. Our families had no hesitation when we told them of our intention to get married,” she said.A resident of Majalgaon village in Beed district, Lalit braved ridicule and rejection, including from his family members, to undergo a sex change operation in 2018. Four years earlier, in 2014, he had undergone tests that suggested the presence of male genes (Y chromosome) in his body.In 2017, he approached the Bombay High Court seeking leave to undergo the sex change surgery. The court directed him to approach the Maharashtra Appellate Tribunal (MAT), and in 2018, the then Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave him the go-ahead for the surgery. The same year, Lalit re-joined the police force as a male constable.His mother Kesarbai, who was initially averse to Lalit’s decision to change his gender and who eventually turned into his biggest supporter, said that Seema “completed” her family. “I am blessed to have three daughters-in-law. Like any parent, I was worried about Lalit’s wedding, but Seema and her family understood his situation and struggle. What more can a parent ask for?” she said.