Photo credit: Prithika Yashini/Facebook

Twenty-five-year-old K Prithika Yashini from Chennai is set to become India's first transgender police officer after the Madras High Court declared her a fit candidate for selection, reported NDTV on Friday. The Tamil Nadu police currently has three transgender constables, but none at the officer level.

Born and raised as a boy named Pradeep Kumar, the Computer Applications graduate became Prithika after a sex change surgery. Her application to become a police officer was first rejected as the state police recruitment board does not have a third gender category. She then approached the high court and cited a Supreme Court judgement that ordered the state and central governments to take steps to treat transgenders as socially and educationally backward citizens. The judgement also asked for reservations to be extended to transgenders in admissions to educational institutions and public appointments.

The Madras High Court bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana said, "We are sure that by the time the next recruitment process is carried out, Tamil Nadu Uniform Services Recruitment Board would have taken corrective measures for including the third gender as a category."