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When Nehal became Neharika.

Delhi, India.

​© 2017 Javed Sultan. All rights reserved.

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Niharika was born as Nehal Singh in 1993. Rejected by family at the age of 12, when they discovered that Niharika (then Nehal) was identified not as a boy, but a transgender female, she had to leave school after high school because no one was ready to accept her in the society as a transgender. She went into depression at a very young age when her father forced her to leave the home. Niharika attempted suicide by slashing her wrists but fortunately, she survived. Soon after this, she met Krish, a social activist who helped her overcome the feeling of not being 'normal'. Krish helped her transform into Niharika. Although Niharika is now courageous enough to fight society for her rights, for justice and to break the stereotypes of identity and existence, she sometimes breaks down when she remembers her days of struggle. She says there was no need to go through the surgery just to prove that she is a girl physically if the society could've accepted her as she was born

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