Three transgender women shot dead in Pakistan

Three transgender women have been killed and six others injured in an armed attack in Pakistan.

According to reports, two gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a group of transgender people on a street corner in Amritsar earlier this month (May 9). Two people, named Billi and Shah Zaib, were killed instantly, while a third, Saima Shahzadi, died the next day in hospital, Dawn reports.

“The attackers could be those who did not like the presence of transgenders in the locality,” said Almas Bobby, president of the Shemale Foundation Pakistan.

Police official Asghar Ali, who is leading an investigation into the murders, added that sketches of the two attackers had been created in order to trace them, and that some of trans people in the group had also been detained for questioning.

“The motive behind the triple murder is not clear but it could be religious extremism or robbery cases allegedly committed by some transvestites,” he said.

The attack came just days after the body of a trans woman was found outside Islamabad. Police said the woman, named Bijli, had been strangled.

Like many South Asian nations, the concept of a ‘third’ gender is commonly accepted in Pakistan, but gender non-conforming individuals are still often subject to abuse and violence.

In 2009, the Pakistan Supreme Court ruled in that as citizens, transgneder individuals they were entitled to the equal benefit and protection of the law, and called upon the government to take steps to protect transvestites from discrimination and harassment.

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