A 20-year-old man and his parents were on Monday arrested after his transgender partner, who underwent a sex change operation after being in a live-in relationship for four years, filed a complaint, police said. The arrest, made by officers of Raopura police station in Vadodara city, was based on a complaint, which also accused the man’s parents of threatening his transgender partner.
The FIR lodged by Cutie Meghani, 25, stated that accused Hardik Mer “promised to marry” if Meghani underwent a gender-affirming surgery. Meghani told the police that after the surgery, while she was bearing “the burden of loans” taken for the reassignment surgeries, the accused abandoned her, also accusing him of cheating.
Police Sub-inspector J A Rahevar told this newspaper that the accused and the complainant had met on social media and entered into a relationship while working for an LGBTQ NGO, Lakshya Trust. Since the accused was a minor at the time, they started a live-in relationship only after Mer attained the age of 18. Rahevar said, “The complainant has stated that when she met the accused, he was a minor and therefore, they waited until he turned 18 before entering into an agreement for a live-in relationship. They had been living together since 2023 and the accused allegedly promised to marry the her if she underwent the reassignment surgery. While some of the process of the sex reassignment had been initiated earlier, she underwent a major surgery in 2024.”
In her complaint, Meghani has also alleged domestic violence and stated that Mer “physically assaulted and repeatedly forced physical relationship upon her”. Meghani also claimed that Mer’s parents abused her and threatened her with dire consequences if she visited their native village in Rajkot’s Jetpur taluka.
Rahevar said, “We arrested Mer, along with his parents, and granted bail as per the provisions of law. We will call them for questioning tomorrow (Tuesday).”
The accused have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 316(2) (Criminal breach of trust), 318(2) (cheating), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(3) (Criminal intimidation), 54 (abettor present when offence is committed) and Section 18(d) of The Transgender Person (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which addresses offences against transgenders that harms, injures or endangers the life, safety, health or well-being — physical and mental.
