Dindigul: Unable to put up with the torment of her godmother and senior transgender who is reportedly running a commercial sex and begging racket, a 25-year-old transgender attempted to commit suicide in Dindigul on Monday night.
Nadhiya, who gave herself to be adopted by godmother Santhini (40) from Reddiarpatti, Transgender Colony two years ago, preferred a complaint along with two other transwomen Monal (25) and Monisha (24) with the Dindigul SP, A.Saravanan claiming that they have been forced into prostitution and begging by Shathini who has a wider network with rowdies and hooligans in it.
“Fearing her, I attempted to end my life consuming poison. When the godmother learned that we have given a complaint to the SP, she threatened me with dire consequences if I did not withdraw the complaint,” Nadhiya told DC. She is now undergoing treatment at the Dindigul Government Hospital.
Nadhiya ran away from her house three years ago and underwent gender reassignment surgery at Coimbatore. When she returned to Dindigul, Shathini adopted Nadhiya as her daughter.
“In the initial days she treated me kindly but I didn’t realise her hidden agenda then. She demanded that I pay '5 lakh to her for having adopted me as her daughter,” she said.
With the help of her mother, Nadhiya borrowed Rs 1.5 lakh and paid her godmother. “When I expressed my inability to pay the remaining amount, Santhini cheated me by stating she would borrow Rs 3.5 lakh from a moneylender and asked me pay Rs 1,500 daily to her to repay the loan,” she said.
Shathini forced her into prostitution and beggary to earn the money. “When I resisted, she used goons to attack me. I felt humiliated to beg for money from the people with whom I am acquainted because I have grown up in this town,” said Nadhiya. The ordeal did not stop with it. “She also forced me to pay Rs 300 on daily basis for her food.”
Her friends Monal and Monisha also faced similar hardships from Santhini. “We escaped from our house because our parents refused to accept our gender identity. But we never realised that our community members would use this as opportunity to exploit us. Many transwomen across the state have been facing similar problems,” said Monal, who was selected for noon-meal workers post and is awaiting her appointment order. Nadhiya and Monisha had also filed a complaint with the police last year, but they withdrew the complaint after Santhini threatened them.
Admitting that some among the transgender community were involved in such exploitative practices, P. Sudha, President of Indian Transgender Initiative, Chennai said that the solution to this problem lies in parents accepting their transgender children.
“The government should also introduce a law to take action against those parents who refuse to accept transgender children. And the government should also introduce special schemes to increase employment opportunities for us,” she said. When contacted, SP, Saravanan said the Taluk police are conducting an investigation into the complaint.
