Too early to confirm gender identity issues, says Dr H Chandrashekhar

The CCTV footage of the intruder in the Maharani’s Women’s College in the city wearing women's undergarments doesn’t prove anything. Unless and until it is proved that he intended to do something criminal while wearing those clothes we cannot jump to any conclusion.

It could be that he intended to commit a sexual offense, but he could also be dressed that way because of intense gender diaspora or even transvestism.

Gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder (GID) is caused when the gender a person is assigned at birth does not match his gender identity and he is a transgender.

Transvestism (also called transvestitism) is the practice of dressing and acting in a style or manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. It happens when a person is craving to wear clothes of the opposite sex and can get sexual gratification only then.

We have seen cases of women with intense gender identity problems and most of them are from rural areas. It is also possible that the man may have entered the women's hostel grounds with criminal intent.

Such men strike only when they have the opportunity and in their public life are often, surprisingly, law abiding citizens. There have been many studies that have tried to typify them into a group like sadomasochistic or anti-social personality, but a molester does not fit into the latter group either.

Many psychiatric journals say most are from low economic backgrounds and are from minority groups. Several have psycho-sexual backgrounds, which include histories of conflict and other trouble with women. They have a marked inability to relate to women personally and sexually.

Dr H. Chandrashekhar is the head of the Department of Psychiatry, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI).