8 years into marriage, woman learns husband underwent sex-change operation
A woman (40) from Vadodara in Gujarat filed a case against her husband for cheating and unnatural sex when, eight years into the marriage, she found that her husband had undergone a sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and was previously a woman. The woman also named her in-laws in the FIR lodged at Gotri police station on Wednesday.
Woman was widowed, met accused on matrimonial site
The complainant was widowed in 2011 when her first husband died in a road accident. They had a daughter, who is 14 years old now. She met the accused, Dr. Viraj Vardhan, a resident of Delhi, through a matrimonial website nine years ago. They got married in February 2014 in the presence of his family members and went to Kashmir for a honeymoon.
Did not consummate the marriage
The husband, however, did not consummate the marriage for days and kept making excuses, police said. On being pressured by his wife, he said that he had suffered an accident some years ago in Russia which left him incapable of having sex. He later told her that things would be 'back to normal' after minor surgery.
Went to Kolkata for organ implantation in 2020
In January 2020, he told his wife that he needed to go to Kolkata for bariatric surgery to reduce weight. He later revealed to her that he had actually gone to get male organs implanted. The woman accused him of having "unnatural sex" with her and threatening her. The accused was brought to Vadodara from Delhi, Gotri police inspector, MK Gurjar said.
CID investigating a Bengaluru forced SRS case
Recently, another SRS case came under the spotlight after a Bengaluru doctor was accused of forcibly performing the surgery on a minor boy allegedly abducted by transgender people to be used for extortion and sex work. In Odisha, the 22-year-old daughter of an IPS couple underwent female-to-male SRS. The parents have begun the process of officially changing the name and gender.
Ayushman Bharat covers SRS for trans persons
Last month, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, transgender persons will get insurance of Rs. 5 lakh for a year, which would also cover SRS. More hospitals are being empaneled to provide SRS, Mandaviya said. The health cards issued to trans persons will, however, not include their family members as in the case of cisgender people.
