Easy targets: Assault on transgenders

It was just another night for 19-year-old Nidhi, until she was assaulted by a man at 3 am on Thursday. “She was lucky that she was able to escape and run through a patch of woods to get to us,” says Chandra Mukhi, a volunteer at the Telangana Transgender Hijra Samiti. “She was bleeding and out of breath, she only managed to tell us that she was assaulted, and before we could say anything she passed out,” she adds.

Nidhi, a transgender and a sex worker, is currently at a government hospital, undergoing treatment for a wound on her head. “Most transgenders either beg or end up becoming sex workers,” explains Chandra Mukhi.

Nidhi, along with two other transgenders, usually stand at a particular spot. “On Thursday, however, Nidhi was alone. Three boys approached her. The first two boys were quite polite, but suddenly after a small disagreement over the price, the third boy took out an iron rod and started hitting Nidhi,” says Chandra Mukhi. “She was lucky because she moved at that instant and the rod struck her on the forehead. She started bleeding heavily, but she had the presence of mind to run away from there,” she says.

After Nidhi reached Chandra Mukhi’s home, she was rushed to a hospital. “We first took her to a private hospital, but they told us that the wound was too deep to treat and then we rushed her to a government hospital,” she adds. Currently, the group is waiting for Nidhi to gain strength so that they can file an FIR. Chandra Mukhi says, “We will be filing an FIR today (Thursday).

The guy who hit her, we have seen him around many times. “This is not the first time that such incidents have taken place. We get beaten, abused and sometimes even raped and there is nothing we can do. This time, however, we will file an FIR. People shouldn’t forget that we are human beings,” she says.

Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.