Two transgenders brutally harrassed and hair chopped off in Tamil Nadu, community demands justice

Tamil Nadu: In an incident which can send sheers down your spine, two transgender persons were subjected to harassment after they were brutally beaten and their hair was chopped off by two men in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi area. The two men – Yova Buban and Vijay – were held by the Kalugumalai police on Thursday after a video of the incident went viral.

The short clip shows a man chopping the hair of one of the transgender women by using a blade and later throwing it away. The man was heard abusing the transgender women, as both appeared having bruised eyes. The inhuman incident shocked the transgender community as many from the community expressed their frustration over the incident and the prevailing mindset against transgenders.

While speaking to The Quotes, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Acharya Mahamandaleshwar of kinnar akhada and a transgender/Hijra rights activist, said the incident is ‘disgraceful and such incidents against transgenders must stop immediately.’ “Communities must learn to live with each other, such incidents will divide the society, and we don’t want that. Everyone must be respected as all are god’s children,” said Laxmi Narayan Tripathi.

Transgender activist Grace Banu posted the video of the incident on Twitter as he urged the local police to take immediate action against the two accused. Reports have claimed that the Kalugumalai police held Vijay, 23, of Sankaran Kovil and Nova Yuvan, 19, of Kazhugumalai, in connection with the incident.

According to police, both the accused were booked under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, which includes the attempt to murder, wrongful restraint, and criminal intimidation, and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act.

The local transgender activist told Indian Express that our community members face discrimination every day, and the fresh incident is a testimony of that. “The incident is so horrific that these two trans women were attacked. For a long time, I have voiced my opinion that transgender in villages faces a greater threat than those living in t metropolitan cities,” Banu told Indian Express.

He further revealed that both transgender women went begging on October 7 when they were intercepted by the men and taken to a forest, where they were brutally attacked.