A transgender naval officer has been fired after going through gender reassignment surgery.
Sabi Giri, who has been an officer in the navy since 2010, was explicitly let go for this reason alone, the navy told the BBC in a statement which repeatedly misgendered the officer.
Sabi said she would appeal to the military court against her sacking.
(Facebook/Sabi Giri)
“I am not a criminal, I have done nothing wrong, I have only revealed my true identity,” she said.
Sabi, a marine engineer, added that she would continue to fight – for “justice”.
The navy said: “The individual chose to undergo irreversible gender reassignment on his own accord.”
The statement added that Sabi was guilty of “wilfully altering his gender status from the one he was recruited for at the time of his induction.”
After joining the navy in 2010, Sabi went on leave in late 2016 to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
(Getty)
But when she returned to serve in April, she said she was confined to a psychiatric ward for nearly five months.
“It was like being in jail,” she told the BBC.
The Indian navy has not responded to the allegations.
But trans citizens, as well as other LGBT people, are still banned from serving in the military.
(Getty)
And trans people in the country suffer high levels of discrimination, with nearly half of all trans children being subjected to violence before they turn 18.
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