Accessibility links

Breaking News

Watchdog

The video shows a man pinning the transgender woman face down on a bed with his foot and beating her bare buttocks with a belt.
The video shows a man pinning the transgender woman face down on a bed with his foot and beating her bare buttocks with a belt.

A harrowing video that shows a group of men beating a transgender woman is being shared widely on social networks in Pakistan, shining a spotlight on violence targeting the long-oppressed community.

Police arrested 10 suspects on November 14, after the two-minute clip posted on the Internet over the weekend prompted calls for action.

The video shows a man pinning the transgender woman face down on a bed with his foot and beating her bare buttocks with what appears to be a leather belt. The victim can be heard whimpering and then screaming in pain.

Another man also flogs the victim, who is wearing a red sari, a traditional dress worn by women on the subcontinent. Another man can be seen twisting the arm of the victim. Several other men, and several transgender women, can be seen standing around watching the brutal beating.

The arrests on November 14 were made in the eastern city of Sialkot, in Punjab Province. Police said five of those arrested have been charged with torture and extortion, while the other five were under investigation.

Pakistan’s Express News identified the main suspect as Jajja Butt.

TransAction, a local transgender rights group, posted a video interview with a transgender woman who identified herself as Julie and who said she was also abused and witnessed the attack.

“We were beaten up and gang raped all night,” a visibly shaken Julie said in a video on Facebook. “They hit us with shoes, spat on our faces, and made us drink their urine,” she added, while claiming that the torture continued for the entire night.

“This country has laws for everyone, even animals, but not for us. Are we children of a lesser God?" Julie asked.

Transgender people, known officially as "third gender" citizens in Pakistan -- a group that includes cross-dressers, transsexuals, eunuchs, hermaphrodites, and transvestites -- face widespread violence, intimidation, and abuse.

The community, estimated to number around 500,000, is known in the Urdu language as "hijras."

In recent years, the minority group has made groundbreaking gains in Pakistan, a deeply conservative country where ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities have often been victims of violence and persecution. Yet those gains have done little to hide the difficult life facing the third-gender citizens.

Many describe themselves as "professional wedding dancers," but supporters say they are many times forced to earn income through begging and prostitution. Often dressed in brightly colored saris and wearing heavy makeup, some roam the streets asking people for money, making them targets for extortion, sexual violence, and other crimes.

They also often show up uninvited at major family gatherings such as weddings and birthdays, singing and dancing until they are paid or given gifts, after which they depart. Transgender people are often seen as a sign of good luck in such ceremonies, while the curse of an unappeased transgender person provokes fear.

Following their official third-gender classification handed down by the Supreme Court in 2011, members of the community were granted the rights to vote and run for office.

The roots of the transgender people on the subcontinent go back centuries, to the time of the Mogul emperors, who kept transgender people as courtesans and caretakers of their harems. Some transgender people held important roles in the courts, held influence over the affairs of the state, and also acted as confidants to their masters.

But with the disintegration of the Mogul empire and the advent of British colonial rule in the 19th century, their status diminished and their ensuing neglect forced many to the fringes of society.

Russian political scientist Valery Solovei
Russian political scientist Valery Solovei

Russia's Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) daily newspaper has removed from its website an interview with a Russian analyst who speculated that President Vladimir Putin might step down before the next presidential election in 2018.

The interview with analyst Valery Solovei appeared on MK's website on November 10, but was swiftly removed. Sources close to Solovei told Current Time TV, a Russian-language television network run by RFE/RL and VOA, that he immediately left Moscow after the interview. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Solovei is well known for his often accurate forecasts about the Kremlin's political decisions and appointments.

In his interview with MK, Solovei said Moscow might call early elections in 2017 because Putin understands that Russia will not be able to normalize ties with the West with him in power. He also said Russia’s economic woes were expected to gradually worsen year on year.

Solovei also said that Putin will have "some problems" and will be absent from the political scene for several months next year. He did not give any details.

Solovei expects the Kremlin to make an announcement about the elections in December.

He said Putin would be replaced by either Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev -- the Russian president from 2008 to 2012 in between Putin's second and current term in office -- or Putin's former chief of staff Sergei Ivanov.

Load more

About This Blog

"Watchdog" is a blog with a singular mission -- to monitor the latest developments concerning human rights, civil society, and press freedom. We'll pay particular attention to reports concerning countries in RFE/RL's broadcast region.

Subscribe

Latest Posts

Journalists In Trouble

RFE/RL journalists take risks, face threats, and make sacrifices every day in an effort to gather the news. Our "Journalists In Trouble" page recognizes their courage and conviction, and documents the high price that many have paid simply for doing their jobs. More

XS
SM
MD
LG