G Harikumar, DSP of G1 Vepperi Police Station had allegedly asked well-known athlet Santhi Soundarajan to provide a certificate saying that she was a female.
Santhi who hails from Kathakurichi village in Pudukottai district belongs to the Scheduled Caste community. She is the first Tamil woman to win a medal at the Asian Games. She was stripped of the silver medal she won at the 2006 Asian Games for failing a ‘sex verification test’ which made her ineligible to participate in women’s competition.
The Supreme Court of India in NALSA v. Union of India case said that every person has the right to self-identify their gender. Subsequently, The Transgender (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 has codified the same and prohibited all forms of discrimination against Transgender Persons. Recently, the State of Tamil Nadu via the Government order dated 16 February 2022 amended the Tamil Nadu Police Officers’ Conduct Rules 1964 to include a new rule – ‘24C’ which enumerates that police officer shall not harass Transgender persons and the person working for the welfare of the said community.
In light of this, Nation Council For Transgender Persons South Representative Gopi Shankar Madurai condemned the police officer and has urge the concerned authorities to take action.
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