Kolkata, India
— Transsexuals -- or males who have undergone
sex-change operation to become females -- have an agenda
today, on Women's Day <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_Day>.
They too want to enjoy
the rights and social status of women. In fact, they want
the special laws enacted for the protection of women to
be applicable to them as well. Further, they have
demanded that women rights groups and activists give
equal importance to their cause.
A cross-section of the
community has demanded that as 'women' they should also
be able to reap the benefits of Section 498A of the
Indian Penal Code, which defines the offence of
matrimonial cruelty.
The demand has come
mainly from Manabi Banerjee, a professor in a college in
West Bengal, who is currently fighting a
matrimonial-cum-criminal suit against her husband, Avijit
Pahari.
Manabi, born male as
Somnath Banerjee, underwent a sex-change operation three
years ago and married Avijit a year later.
