The Indian government sacked an Indian Navy sailor in Visakhapatnam, for undergoing a gender reassignment surgery while on holiday.
Sabi Giri told a news channel her story, “Maybe they were trying to find a reason to fire me by proving that I was mentally unstable. It was very difficult there. I felt depressed and kept getting headaches. They put me on medication and I took it because they told me it was for the headaches I got. But I didn’t seem to be getting better, nor did I understand why I was there.”
The Press Information Bureau’s Defence Wing in a press release announced that the Navy discharged the sailor and, “evoking the clause of Service No Longer Required under the Navy Regulations.”
It went on to say that as the sailor who underwent a “gender reassignment surgery at a private facility whilst on leave was administratively discharged from the Service.”
The statement justified that the present regulations did not permit her employment.
The release further stated, “The Individual chose to undergo irreversible gender reassignment surgery on his own accord, whilst on leave willfully altering his gender status from the one he was recruited for at the time of his induction.”
The Navy also reported this was a breach of the Recruitment Regulations and the eligibility criteria for employment as a sailor for the Indian Navy.
