Islamabad, July 16 (IANS) A leading minority rights group on Wednesday highlighted the increasing violence against transgender community in Pakistan.
Revealing one such tragic incident in the heart of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM) mentioned that on the night of July 8, a transgender woman named Taj Muhammad, known as ‘Asady,’ was brutally murdered in her apartment in Peshawar’s Tehkal area. It stated that Asady, aged around 32-33 years, was shot multiple times in the upper body and head, a brutal murder which has “shaken the transgender community to its core”.
“This senseless murder is not an isolated incident. It is a tragic part of a relentless trend that shows no signs of stopping. Already, eight transgender individuals have been killed in KP in 2025 alone. Since 2009, the death toll has risen to 158, and over 1,800 cases of violence against transgender people have been reported,” read a statement issued by the VOPM.
“These are not just numbers; they represent lives — individuals who, like everyone else, deserve dignity, respect, and protection. Each murder is a painful reminder of the perilous existence transgender persons continue to endure, living in fear, constantly on edge,” the statement added.
The minority rights group asserted that Asady’s death is not just another statistic; it is a human life cut short, a “soul extinguished” by senseless violence.
“Her family, in the face of unbearable grief, is left to navigate the agony of loss, while the community she once thrived in is left wondering why the violence never ceases. The police registered an FIR on the same day, with Asady’s brother, Bahadur Khan, stepping forward as the complainant,” VOPM stated.
Arzoo Khan, the Executive Director of the Manzil Foundation and the Provincial President for Transgenders in KP, shared her heartfelt condolences and outrage.
“We highly condemn the killings of individuals in KP from the transgender community,” the rights group quoted Arzoo as saying. She confirmed that Asady’s body was handed over to her family after the post-mortem.
According to VOPM, despite the ongoing investigation, the motive behind the crime remains unclear, adding to the “endless uncertainty and fear that hangs over the transgender community in the region”.
The minority rights body pointed out that just a week before Asady’s murder, another transgender woman, ‘Titli’ was killed in Peshawar’s Gulbahar area.
While the police hastily claimed to have solved the case, it stated that Arzoo Khan refuted these claims, pointing out the discrepancies in the investigation and the arrests.
“Police did not arrest the main suspects. They are just trying to present a good image by arresting the friends and family of the accused,” she said.
“The police’s handling of these cases only deepens the mistrust within the transgender community, who feel that justice for them is constantly delayed, if not denied,” the VOPM emphasised.
“Violence against transgender individuals has become an all-too-familiar story. In May, Shahab alias ‘Wafa’ was shot in the head and killed in Dargai, Malakand, while returning from a wedding. In June, ‘Zaibi’ was killed during a wedding event in Abbottabad, and the violence did not stop there,” it added, detailing similar acts of violence against transgender individuals in the KP province.
The minority rights body asserted that “these killings are not isolated incidents; they are part of a growing epidemic of hate and intolerance directed at a community that is already marginalised and voiceless in many ways”.
The VOPM further stated that transgender community in KP faces a double-edged sword, as on one side, they face social rejection, limited access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities; and on the other hand, they endure physical violence and death, merely for existing.
“They are treated as outcasts, pushed to the fringes of society, and forced to live in constant fear. As the state fails to protect them, their cries for help grow louder, demanding not just justice, but safety — a basic human right that everyone deserves,” the rights group noted.
–IANS
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