Five booked in Sahiwal for kidnap and rape of transperson

Published October 21, 2019
On Sept 20, four transgender persons from Kamalia had been booked by Zulfiqar for a show at the Mai Maseet Wali Mela in village Dhoop Sari. — AP/File
On Sept 20, four transgender persons from Kamalia had been booked by Zulfiqar for a show at the Mai Maseet Wali Mela in village Dhoop Sari. — AP/File

SAHIWAL: Harappa police claimed to have booked on Sunday five people for kidnapping and raping a transgender at gunpoint a month ago near village Dhoop Sari.

A Kamalia-based transgender person had been allegedly tortured and raped at gunpoint by two men on the night of Sept 20. The district police officer (DPO) ordered registration of a first information report (FIR) allegedly because the Harappa police were reluctant to listen to the victim.

Another transperson, Binyamin, claimed that while Harappa police registered an FIR against two nominated and three unidentified people, they were reluctant to arrest the culprits.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Mukhtar Ahmed confirmed to Dawn that no arrests had been made so far. On the delayed registration of a case, Harappa Station House Officer Zeeshan claimed that the transperson approached them late.

On Sept 20, four transgender persons from Kamalia had been booked by Zulfiqar for a show at the Mai Maseet Wali Mela in village Dhoop Sari. The group was led by ‘S’. After the show when the group was travelling to Jhang in a car, they were intercepted by five armed men at 2am. They pulled ‘S’ out of the car and took her to a nearby farmhouse. The transperson alleged that she was tortured and raped by two men while three armed men stood guard. They kept her detained for three hours.

The suspects dropped off ‘S’ to Sahiwal city, 20 kilometres from the farmhouse. Later, she was picked up by her colleague Binyamin, who was waiting for her at the festival venue where they had performed.

Binyamin and ‘S’ along with other transpersons approached Harappa police and reported the incident. “Harappa police was reluctant to register a rape case,” alleged Binyamin, adding that they had succeeded in getting a medical certificate, which confirmed rape. They finally approached the Sahiwal DPO on whose directions a rape case was registered late on Saturday. Police booked five people, out of whom two were nominated.

Talking to Dawn, Binyamin claimed that instead of arresting the culprits Harappa police were threatening them to withdraw the rape case. He further claimed that the culprits were constantly threatening them with dire consequences if they did not withdraw the case, and demanded help from the Sahiwal regional police officer and inspector general of police.

Sources said a transgender delegation from Kamalia was holding talks with the district police high-ups for redressal of their grievances.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

‘Source of terror’
29 Mar, 2024

‘Source of terror’

ALTHOUGH dealing with the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan is a major political, security and strategic...
Chipping in
29 Mar, 2024

Chipping in

FEDERAL infrastructure development schemes are located in the provinces. Most such projects — for instance,...
Toxic emitters
29 Mar, 2024

Toxic emitters

IT is concerning to note that dozens of industries have been violating environmental laws in and around Islamabad....
Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...