SIALKOT: Police have arrested five out of the 20 suspects who allegedly subjected some transgender persons to torture and rape, before depriving them of huge sums as a punishment for refusing them sexual favours.

The action was taken after a video went viral on social media, showing the main suspect, ‘E’, stripping and thrashing with a leather belt a transgender person, ‘H’.

Police later traced the suspects through the video clip and claimed the incident occurred at the outhouse of the transgender persons’ guru, Riaz alias Azmu, at Pakki Kotli village on Nov 10.

The victims told the media that 20 suspects armed with sticks and belts, led by ‘E’, stormed the outhouse and started torturing them. The suspects also shaved the heads of some of the victims and burnt their bodies with cigarettes for refusing them sexual favours.

The victims told police the suspects also forced them to drink their urine while the entire episode was filmed.

The main victim, H, said the suspects tortured her and her companions with belts after stripping her. She told Dawn she was thrashed as she had refused sexual favours to ‘E’. She further claimed ‘E’ had already made their lives miserable by extorting money and seeking sexual favours from them.

The victims said they felt insecure as the suspects frequently threatened them with dire consequences. They urged the government to provide them security.

Following the arrests, a large number of transgender persons gathered in and around Saddar police station where they slapped and hit the suspects with shoes in the presence of police. They also beat their chests to register their protest. Later, they staged a sit-in outside the police station demanding stern legal action against the suspects.

One of the victims, ‘S’, said the suspects should be taught an unforgettable lesson for what they did to them.

Later, the transgender protesters staged a demonstration and sit-in in front of the offices of the district coordination officer (DCO) and district police officer (DPO) at Kutchehry Chowk. Carrying banners and placards, they chanted slogans against police and demanded justice. They said the suspects were influential and had political connections, adding they were receiving threats for reporting the matter to police.

Saddar police registered a case against 20 suspects for raping transgender persons, brutally torturing them with belts after stripping them off, filming the incident and looting hundreds of thousands of rupees from them. The case was registered on the complaint of Riaz, under sections 292, 355, 377, 386 and 392 of the PPC.

According to the first information report, four armed suspects and a transgender person stormed into the outhouse of the petitioner at Pakki Kotli village on the main Sialkot-Daska road late on Nov 10. One of the suspects, ‘E’ raped a transgender person at gunpoint and later tortured ‘H’ with belts after stripping her.

The FIR said ‘E’ asked his accomplices to record the incident, which went viral on the social media. Later, the suspects snatched Rs50,000 from Nadeem alias Sapna, Rs20,000 from Aamir alias Chiriya, Rs30,000 from Mustafa alias Maachhi, Rs50,000 from Riaz and thousands of rupees from other transgender persons. The report also stated that the suspects often extorted huge amounts from the victims.

Riaz further said two other suspects had also raped a transgender person ‘T’, while their accomplice ‘K’ raped ‘B’ the same night. The report added that some suspects had also previously raped some transgender persons at gunpoint.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2016