This Article is From Jun 30, 2012

Did navy man rape Bidhan Barua?

Did navy man rape Bidhan Barua?
Mumbai: Bidhan Barua, the youngster who feels he is a woman trapped in a man's body, has filed a complaint against a navy man accusing him of raping him on several occasions under a false promise of marriage.

According to sources within the police force, Bidhan approached the Colaba police last week, and lodged a complaint against Commando Kunal Malik following which, the police registered a non-cognisable complaint against Malik.

"I have registered a complaint against Commando Malik. He raped me on the pretext of marriage," said Barua, who likes to be addressed as Swati.

When contacted, Shashikant Satav, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Colaba, said, "Let me check the matter." Captain Manohar Nambiar, Chief PRO, Indian Defence, said, "I have heard about the allegation, but can't confirm anything, as I am out of the city."

Bidhan, who hails from Guwahati in Assam, learnt as a teenager that medical science could fulfil his dream of becoming a woman, after reading about it on the Internet.

After saving money for many years, he left Assam on March 31, this year, for Mumbai, where he stayed with his cousin Chiranjeev Barua.
Soon after getting a date for the operation at a hospital in the city, he approached the Bombay High Court last month after his parents didn't give him permission for a sex change. In his petition, Bidhan had urged the court to restrain his parents from prohibiting him to undergo the operation, following which the High Court cleared the path for him to undergo a sex reassignment surgery.
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