After serving in the Maharashtra police force for nearly a decade, constable Lalitha Salve, 29, is seeking some time away from the call of duty for a major life change - a sex reassignment surgery. Salve, currently deputed at the Majalgaon city police station in Beed, has submitted a written application to Satish Mathur, Director General of Police, asking for a month's leave to undergo the surgery and to be referred to as a male constable post the procedure.

In the application filed through her advocate Dr Syed Ejaz Abbas Naqvi, Salve, a native of Majalgaon taluka has also mentioned that the department should change their existing records about her to her new gender identity after the operation. The letter also mentions that Salve has hormonal imbalances.