HC warns boy not to threaten suicide on sex change operation

The court summoned Bhidan39s lawyer Ejaz Naqvi after the student wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and other authorities threatening to commit suicide if his petition was not heard immediatelyu00a0 In the petition Bhidan who feels he is a woman trapped in a man39s body has urged the court to restrain his parents from prohibiting him to undergo sex change operation Following the summons from the court Naqvi appeared before Justices S J Vazifdar and A R Joshi quotYour client cannot indulge in such pressure tactics and threaten the court As a lawyer you should understand the court39s difficulties alsoquot Justice Vazifdar said The court had yesterday posted the matter for hearing on May 7 Refusing to hear the matter before that the court told Naqvi that the petition would be heard on May 7 only Bhidan in his letter had also said that since his parents have blocked his bank accounts he does not have money for lawyer fees On this the judge said if needed the court would appoint an amicus curie friend of the court to assist him Bhidan 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 Bidhan who likes to call himself Swati alleged that his parents had thwarted the sex reassignment surgery which was to be performed at Saifee Hospital here on April 17 He claimed his parents threatened doctors who had refused to perform the operation unless the High Court gives a go ahead Bhidan had contended in his application that he is a female trapped in a male body and wants to marry a flight lieutenant in the Indian Air Force In the letters to the Chief Justice of India and other authorities Bhidan wrote quotI was due to undergo sex change surgery for which I left my job but my parents have blocked my bank account I have no money to pay for the operation feesquot quotFor the last two weeks I am running from door to door seeking injustice but the court does not have time to hear me I do not have any money for my food lodging So I am finally requesting the court to pass an immediate order against my family or grant me an order for an authorised suicidequot quotI will kill myself if I do not get an order for my surgery by this evening For my suicide the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court will be responsiblequot wrote Bhidan and signed it under his name Bhidan contended that he realised early in life that he was born in the wrong sex and preferred to dress like girls This angered his parents who illtreated him and beat him up he alleged Bhidan said it was in Class VII that he learnt through the Internet that medical science could provide a remedy to his problem through a sex change procedure and he decided to go for it He did odd jobs after school hours to earn money for the operation which would cost him anywhere between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 3 lakh On March 2 Bhidan 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 a cousin However his father Supti Ranjan Barua traced him to Mumbaiu00a0