INDORE: Twenty-five days after marriage, a 32-year-old man in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur has claimed that his spouse is a transgender and lodged a complaint against his in-laws for concealing the gender identity before the wedding.Repeated excuses to avoid consummating the marriage, followed by growing suspicion within the family, led the groom to confront his spouse. Police filed a case against five members of the spouse’s family on July 25, while making it clear that the claim is yet to be verified.The groom, a vegetable vendor from Shajapur, alleged the match was arranged through a neighbour, who introduced his family to a prospective bride from Pachore in Rajgarh district. Although his family wanted to solemnise the marriage next year, they claimed the other side insisted on an early wedding. The couple got married at a temple on June 29 according to Hindu rituals. The groom’s family alleged they spent nearly Rs 5 lakh on the wedding and also handed over Rs 1 lakh in cash to the spouse’s family.According to the complaint, the spouse avoided consummating the marriage by citing menstruation on the wedding night and stomach pain the following day. On July 2, the spouse returned to the parental home and came back to the matrimonial house on July 23.Groom alleges assault by spouse’s kinSuspicions arose soon after the spouse’s return when the groom’s sister-in-law allegedly noticed the spouse shaving.This led them to suspect the spouse was transgender and allege that the information had been concealed before marriage.The groom alleged that after the family confronted the spouse and informed the relatives on July 24, asking them to take her back, the relatives arrived in Shajapur but instead assaulted and verbally abused members of the groom’s family.“Whether the person is transgender can only be confirmed after a medical examination,” Kotwali police station in-charge Santosh Baghela said, adding the accused will be booked for cheating if the allegations are found true in the case.
