Court in India upholds right to sex change operation

The High Court of Mumbai, India, has said there is no legal bar to an adult man having a sex change operation.

Bidhan Baruah, 21, had asked the court to restrain his parents from opposing the operation. He said they had blocked access to his bank account.

Mr Baruah's lawyer, Ejaz Naqvi, told the BBC that his client would soon be going to a hospital for the surgery.

Mr Baruah had threatened that he would kill himself if the court did not hear his case.

The court warned him that he should not resort to pressure tactics.

"He is an adult and can take his own decision," the court said in its ruling. "There is no law which prohibits sex change operation."

The court said if Mr Baruah felt any threat from his parents, he should go to the police.

Mr Baruah told the BBC recently that he felt he was a woman trapped in a man's body.

He ran away from home in March to Mumbai to have the surgery in April, but facing opposition from his parents, who threatened to disown him if he went ahead, the operation was delayed.

His father told the NDTV news channel that he wanted his son to be happy but could not bear the humiliation if he became a woman.