- Sunday, May 22, 2022
By: Sarwar Alam
Unidentified gunmen in Pakistan shot and killed a transgender woman in the northwest city of Peshawar, police said on Wednesday (9), in the latest violence to target the community.
Officials said the shooting occurred late Tuesday in the Palosi neighbourhood on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“A group of four transgender (women) were returning home after performing at a wedding function when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their vehicle, killing Gul Panra on the spot,” said Hassan Jehangir Wattoo, a senior police official in Peshawar.
He said two other passengers were also injured in the shooting.
Another local police official Muslim Khan confirmed the incident, adding that authorities had detained four suspects in connection with the shooting.
“We are unable to confirm the number of attackers and their identities at the moment as it will hamper the ongoing investigation”, Khan told AFP.
The transgender community in Pakistan are known as “khawajasiras” or “hijras” — an umbrella term denoting a third sex that includes transgender women and cross-dressers.
Incidents of violence against them are very common in the country, where they are largely shunned by society, the victims of beatings and rapes.
Those who cannot make ends meet as dancers are often condemned to a life of begging or sex work.
They are traditionally called upon for rituals such as blessing newborns or to bring life to weddings and parties, in a country where it is considered un-Islamic for a woman to dance in front of men.
Pakistan became one of the first countries in the world to legally recognise a third sex in 2009 and began issuing transgender passports from 2017. Several have also run in elections.
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