HYDERABAD: Members of the transgender community on Sunday distanced themselves from the protest and alleged storming of the Hyderabad SSP office, claiming that vulnerable and underage members of the community had been.
Addressing a press conference at the Hyderabad Press Club, transgender activists Maryam Sheikh, Sana, Madiha and Zunaira Khanzadi said the transgender community had been facing criticism on social media for the past four days following the incident.
They alleged that a social media group was created and members of the community were added to it and directed to participate in the protest. They maintained that many participants were unaware of the legal implications of their actions and were influenced into joining the demonstration.
The speakers said the transgender community had been struggling for its rights for decades but had never taken the law into its own hands. They announced that the community would approach the court for bail of the 14 arrested transgender persons and expressed the hope that they would secure their release.
They said a legal team comprising advocates Hassan Chandio, Haroon Jatoi and Shehbaz Malik would pursue the case in court. Earlier on June 4, a local court remanded the suspects in judicial custody. Police produced junior clerk Maria Sario and 14 transgender persons before the court in connection with the June 3 incident at the Hyderabad SSP office.
According to police, the suspects staged a protest and created disturbance inside the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Cell office following the removal of Sario from the position of the cell incharge.
Police officials stated that Hyderabad SSP Shahzeb Chachar ordered an inquiry into the matter, during which an audio message allegedly surfaced in which Sario was heard instructing transgender persons to participate in the protest.
After hearing the case, the court remanded Sario and co-accused in 14-day judicial custody and ordered their transfer to the women’s jail. According to the FIR, the Hyderabad police arrested the former GBV cell incharge and other transgender persons after they allegedly entered the SSP office premises and protested against her transfer from the GBV Cell.
Police alleged that some protesters entered the office of the newly appointed GBV Cell Incharge, Inspector Benazir Zardari, removed her from the room and seated Sario in her place, while official work was disrupted and staff members harassed.
The investigators further stated that Sario, a junior clerk who had previously been removed from the GBV Cell, allegedly organised the protest after a notification was issued appointing Inspector Benazir as the new head of the unit.
