Chennai: A 25-year-old transgender K. Prithika Yashini took charge as a police sub-inspector of Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu on Saturday.

Prithika was recruited by Tamil Nadu police last year and completed her one year training at Tamil Nadu Police Academy. Along with 1,028 trainees she took the certificate from the Tamil Nadu chief minister K. Palaniswami on Friday.

Prithika had applied for the post in 2015 after the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board(TNUSRB) invited applications to fill 1,087 SI posts. But she was rejected due to her gender as she did not fit into the male or female gender categories. She fought it out in the Madras High Court and was then allowed to write her test and take part in the physical tests.

She reportedly missed the 100 mtr dash by a second and was disqualified but she went to court again and the First Bench comprising Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana passed orders in November 2015 that she was eligible.

During the Presentation she said that her journey was difficult but she was happy to be India's first transgender SI and she would fight against foeticide and prevent crime against women. She also said that she wants to be an IPS officer.