KOCHI:THE Kerala High Court on Monday ordered conducting a medical examination on a person, who claimed to be a transgender, and directed the medical team to file a report on June 7.
The court issued the order on a petition filed by Tessy James of Kochi alleging her son Aby James, who was under treatment for a mood disorder, has been illegally detained by a gang of transgenders. She had also sought a directive to the police to produce her son before the court.
When the case came up for hearing, all the parties, including Aby James, were present before the court. The court said the detenue asserts he is a transgender, which was emphatically denied by his parents. The court said let the detenue be admitted to Kusumagiri Hospital for medical-psychological exam.
A team of doctors should examine the detenue and file a report on June 7, it said. The court further directed the police to accompany the detenue till he gets admitted.
The petitioner submitted her son is not a transgender — physically and psychologically. His mood disorder is unfairly being taken advantage of by several persons. He was put under psychological pressure and even his name was changed to Arundhathi. She submitted her son was trapped by transgenders and they are using him to suit their ill and lusty motives, which may lead to criminal acts too.
As per the petition, the 25-year-old showed psychological abnormalities while doing his graduation and underwent treatment for a month in September last year. He was diagnosed with a mood disorder. Pursuant to the treatment, he returned to normal life, the petition said.
In March, he started showing some behavioural changes. He was making friends with transgender persons of his age in the locality, and the parish priest warned him against such acts. He was reluctant when the parents tried to get him treated by a psychiatrist. In April first week, he left the house without telling his parents and returned only after a week. Problems continued and he left the house again in the second week of May.
However, this time, the parents informed the Kalamassery police about the incident. The son appeared before the police on May 10 along with an advocate and told them he is a transgender and he was not interested in staying with his parents.
On May 15, the parents lodged a complaint with the police regarding their son’s missing and made specific allegations against his transgender friends and sought assistance for continuing his treatment. The parents alleged the transgender gang might use him for harvesting organs and force him into illegal activities. The police tracked down the petitioner’s son and produced him before a magistrate court in Aluva on May 19.