Bombay High Court (HC) was informed by the central government on Tuesday that the department of social justice and empowerment would look into the grievances of eunuchs.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar was hearing a PIL by NGO Salvation of Oppressed Eunuchs demanding that members of the community be treated as humans with fundamental rights,including the right to vote.
The PIL demands that eunuchs be treated as a minority and laws applicable to SCs and STs be also applicable to them.
Atrocities and crimes committed against eunuchs should be taken seriously and the culprits punished. Even derogatory remarks should be punishable, it says.
The PIL also seeks changes in IPC sections 375 and 377.
The bench observed that the government should be given time to consider the problem and come up with a solution and posted the matter for hearing in January 2013.