Three transgender persons shot dead in Memon Goth

The bodies of three transgender persons were discovered in the bushes near the Nagori Cooperative Housing Society along the M-9 motorway in Memon Goth on Sunday. According to police, unidentified assailants shot them dead before fleeing.

The Memon Goth police, Rangers officials and rescue workers rushed to the scene after receiving reports of the incident. The area was immediately cordoned off, and a search operation was launched. A crime scene unit was also summoned to collect forensic evidence.

District Malir police chief SSP Abdul Khaliq Pirzada, who inspected the site, told media representatives that every victim had been shot once: two of them in the chest and one in the head. No phones or other belongings were found on them to assist with their identification.

However, investigators recovered two 9mm pistol shells, a torch and a tissue roll from the scene. Fingerprints of the deceased were obtained for identification purposes. The bodies were later taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for their postmortem examination.

Memon Goth SHO Javed Abro confirmed that two of the victims had been identified through their fingerprints as 20-year-old Alex Riyasat, son of Riyasat Masih, a resident of Bhittaiabad, with ancestral roots in Sheikhupura, and 28-year-old Muhammad Jeel, son of Murad, belonging to District Khairpur. The third victim remains unidentified.

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar sought a detailed report from SSP Pirzada, instructing police to use modern forensic techniques and intelligence sources in the investigation. He stressed the need to determine the motives behind the killings and bring those responsible to justice.

CM takes notice

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah condemned the murder of the three transgender persons, adds our correspondent. He took strict notice of the murders and directed the provincial police chief to arrest the culprits immediately.

He said transgender persons are among the most marginalised groups of society, and must be given dignity and respect. “The state will not tolerate the killing of any innocent or vulnerable citizen.”

Meanwhile, in his message on International Day of Peace, he stressed that peace is essential for human welfare and prosperity. He said no peace effort can succeed without a just solution to the Kashmir issue, and censured the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza.

“Wars bring nothing but destruction, economic collapse and human suffering,” he said, urging the United Nations to fulfil its founding purpose. Pakistan seeks friendly relations with all nations, he added, and called on the global community to play its part in building lasting peace.

‘Concerning rise’

Although exact figures are not available due to severe under-reporting, human rights groups such as Amnesty International say there has been a concerning rise in violence against trans people in Pakistan.

“The bullet-riddled bodies of three transgender women were found on a highway,” Abro told AFP. “We are still in the process of confirming their identities,” he said, adding that they had yet to determine a motive. The bodies were discovered shortly after midnight on Sunday.

Transgender women in Pakistan have faced a highly organised digital hate campaign driven by the religious right in recent years, threatening their legal rights as well as their safety. “When hate speech and campaigns are carried out so openly, outcomes like this are inevitable,” Shahzadi Rai, a trans activist and government-appointed local councillor in Karachi, told AFP.

“Even though the state and police are on our side, killings are still occurring, which indicates that deep-rooted hatred against transgender people persists in our society.”

Activists say there is a pattern of violence against transgender women forced into sex work or who refuse the advances of men. “We have already pointed it out to the government that this is a coordinated assault on the lives of transgender people,” Mehrub Moiz, a trans activist, told AFP.

The landmark passing of a Transgender Rights Act in 2018 was regarded as highly progressive, lauded around the world for the protections it granted the community. But religious groups said it was against Islamic law and “a conspiracy to destroy our family system”, and key sections were later revoked by a sharia court.