Nileshkumar Bhaishankar Mehta, a transgender woman who works in the Mamlatdar office as Deputy Mamlatdar, had to fight a court battle to win the custody of his daughter.
Nilesh, a man by birth, got his sex changed and is now known as Bijal Bhaishankar Mehta. Nilesh got married to Mittal a few years ago and a daughter was born to them. But the marriage ended in divorce and at that time, their daughter was under legal custody because her natural father had accepted to take care of her temporarily.
Later, Nilesh aka Bijal got married to Hemangi and when troubles started appearing in their marriage, Hemangi took the minor daughter of Nilesh, Mehak, to her father’s house. Later, Bijal filed a petition in the court of Porbandar to get the daughter’s custody. The court rejected the appeal.
Bijal challenged the court order and termed it illegal. A transgender woman, after she underwent sex change, is no longer the father of her daughter and is now a mother. In the light of the new reality, will the daughter now call her father as father or as mother, Bijal asked in the petition.
She said that this may affect her minor daughter psychologically. MLA MG Shingarkhiya and Salim D Jokhiya appeared in support of Bijal and said that presently, Hemangi is the mother of an orphaned daughter. As per the provisions of the Guardian and Wards Act, giving custody of an orphan daughter to Hemangi will be considered illegal. Bijal becomes the natural guardian of her daughter.
The district court termed the order of the lower court as wrong and said that it may affect the interests of the minor girl. Sighting records and reasons based on that, the court termed the demand of Bijal Mehta as rightful and legal, and asked to entrust the custody of the minor girl to her.
Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, in the last two years, has issued more than 20 mental health certificates. These 20 men wanted to get their sex changed to become women.
Ever since the Transgender Act came into force in 2019, only two or three applications have been received for the mental health certificate that allows people to undergo sex change. In the last two years, not a single such application has been rejected.
Those who want to get their sex changed are encouraged to get a mental health certificate because for such a change, it is necessary that they are mentally fit. Such applicants also have to pass through counselling sessions to prove that they are in good health mentally before this decision is taken.
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