Body of three transgender people found in Pakistan

Pakistan police said they had found the bodies of three transgender people on the roadside in the city of southern Karachi, in the last violence against the community.

They were slaughtered by unidentified attackers and their bodies discovered shortly after midnight Sunday in the Memon Goth region in Karachi, police announced.

“The organizations of three transgender women were found on a road,” said Javed Ahmed Abro, city police manager at the AFP news agency.

The authorities are still confirming their identity and have not yet determined a reason.

Amnesty International says that there has been an increase in violence against trans people, also known as Hijras, Pakistan.

“Transgender people are a vulnerable segment of society, and we must all give them dignity and respect,” said Sindh -chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, in a statement.

In 2018, the Pakistan Senate voted to support a bill protecting the rights of transgender persons and allowing them to determine their own gender identity.

The law on transgender rights has been congratulated by many on a global scale, but the key sections were then revoked by a Sharia court.

Estimates say that there are about half a million transgender citizens in the country and that they face continuous social exclusion and abuse.

A 2023 report in Lancet Journal noted that 90% of transgender people in Pakistan are faced with physical assaults.