“They will kill me anytime now,” screamed Thara Prasad, a transwoman living in Kochi in Kerala's Ernakulam district. “I will meet the same fate as Maria, Gouri and Shalu,” she said. She was referring to the similar murders of three transwomen in different parts of Kerala during the past seven years.

Thara Prasad represents hundreds of transpeople living in fear. They constantly face physical abuses, harassment and intimidation from anti-socials. What worries them most is the inaction of the Kerala Police, who they allege, always stand with the perpetrators of the crime.

This despite Kerala becoming the first Indian state in 2015 to launch a State Policy of Transgenders. The policy aims at ensuring justice for the community with equal rights and form Transgender Justice Boards at the state and district levels.

On June 28, Thara Prasad rushed to the Central Police Station in Kochi after she was attacked by Badusha, a history-sheeter. But the policemen did not accept her complaint. Instead, the cops asked her several uncomfortable questions. “Who asked you to roam around the city in the wee hours and solicit people to prostitution,” asked the officer-in-charge.

She then went to the office of the Circle Inspector of Police, only to be disappointed again. The cop did not accept her complaint. Instead, he asked her to stop involving in immoral activities.

But Thara Prasad was not ready to give up. She met the Ernakulam District Collector, S Suhas, and submitted her complaint.

“My life did not change after that. Badusha attacked me a week after I complained to the Collector,” she said.

The police appear to be least bothered about the travails of the gender minorities.

Ernakulam Circle Inspector Vijay Shankar sounded quite prejudiced when he spoke about the transpeople. “Do you know the intention of transpeople wandering in the city at night,” he asked. “They are sex workers. Why do they engage in immoral activities? Who asked them to roam around in the wee hours? The mistake is on their part.”

Special Secretary of the Kerala state Social Justice Department Biju Prabhakar said insensitivity of the police towards transgender issues is a major cause of concern. “Policemen need to be sensitized first. They appear to be prejudiced against transgender people,” he said.

The Transgender Justice Board functions under the Social Justice Department.

The police disdain explains why the killers of three transpeople – Shalu, Gowri and Maria – are still at large.

Shalu was found murdered in Kozhikode in April, 2019. Gauri was found dead near St Xavier's College in Aluva in Ernakulam district in August, 2017, while Maria was killed in Kollam in November, 2012.

All the three victims were strangled to death. The bodies had bruises on their face and upper body. The murderers had also covered the bodies with asbestos sheets.

Shalu murder

Shalu, 35, was a native of Kannur. She had left her home in 2014 and underwent sex reassignment surgery in Mysore. She was found murdered in Kozhikode on April 1, 2019.

Her close friend Sisily George remembers Shalu as an energetic person. “I nursed her when she underwent the sex reassignment surgery,” said Sisily, who is the president and founder of Punarjani, an organisation that works for the welfare of transpeople in Kerala. “After the surgery, she hosted a party to friends in Kozhikode. She looked dashing that day,” she recounted.

The autopsy report confirmed that she was strangled to death. The lesions caused by fingernails and finger-prints of the killer were found around her neck. There were bruises on her face and upper body. Shalu's wallet was also missing.

Sisily alleged that the police did not investigate properly though she had given them many leads. “They (police) know that no one will complain if the murder cases of transpeople were closed abruptly. I had collected the CCTV footage of a person who approached the spot a few minutes before Shalu's death. Police did not interrogate the person,” she complained.

Sisily said Shalu had spent a few days at Shoranur before arriving at Kozhikode. A day later, she told Sisily that she needed personal protection. “She was totally disturbed. She demanded protection. She knew she was being followed and could be murdered soon,” Sisily said.

T K Ashraf, the police officer who investigated the murder, said his team is yet to nab the murderer. “We have a CCTV camera footage and fingerprints of the suspect. But we are yet to ascertain whether he is a migrant labourer or a native of Kerala,” he said.

Shalu's body was handed over to Sisily after her family refused to accept it.

A 2017 mystery

Transwoman Gauri was born in Tamil Nadu and lived in Aluva in Ernakulam district. Her body was found under a bush near St Xavier's College on August 16, 2017.

According to the police, Gauri, 28, was a familiar face in the neighbourhood. She worked as a construction labourer and led a peaceful life. After her death, police tried to trace her relatives but their effort went in vain. Her body was kept in the Government Hospital mortuary in Aluva for a week. Transgender community claimed her body and cremated at a public crematorium in Aluva.

Her friend, Anita (name changed to protect identity), told Onmanorama that Gauri had received threats a few weeks before she was killed. “She had mentioned about the threats she received from local goons. I think she was killed when she refused to heed their demands,” she said.

Aluva East Police had arrested a youngster in connection with the murder. The chargesheet stated that the young man was a drug addict and had demanded money from her. When she refused, he strangled her to death, robbed her and dumped her body in the bush.

Station House Officer at the Aluva Police Station, Ibrahim Kutty, said both the transgenders and the history-sheeters are public nuisance. “Why do you say 'she', he asked this correspondent. “Murukesan was born as a male. He led the life of a female here. He was killed by a drug addict when the former was out to engage in immoral activities during the night. That is it,” Ibrahim Kutty said.

Gauri's friends are suspicious about the hurried closure of the case. They allege influential persons might have influenced the police. “Gauri had a strong physique. We are not convinced that a lean youngster could attack Gauri and kill her,” they said.

An abandoned case

In November, 2012, Sweet Maria, 35, was found murdered under mysterious circumstances in her rented room in Kollam.

Maria was a popular rights activist. An extrovert by all means, she showed up in public functions in her loud, colourful feminine costume and her signature rainbow-shaded umbrella. Her neck was slit and she was stabbed with a knife or dagger. According to media reports, many injuries were seen on the upper part of her body. She had stab injuries on her stomach. Chilly powder was sprinkled all over her body, which was also covered with an asbestos sheet.

It is suspected that Maria was forced to concede to the sexual advances of a four-member gang. Her friends had told police that she felt insecure a few days before her murder.

Who are the villains?

Criminologist Jawahar Lal said the three murders did not appear to be just goon attacks. “The attackers were inquisitive to know the physical specialities of transpeople. Besides, the derision towards the community lead to such crimes,” he said.

“There are perverts in every society and they know that no one would challenge them if they attacked transpeople.”

Jawahar Lal said raising public awareness is the only way to tackle this problem. “People need to be convinced that transpeople are part of our society. Our public spaces should be made more inclusive to fathom people with all gender and sexual identities,” he said.

Biju Prabhakar felt the attacks against transpeople could be stopped by organising more public awareness campaigns at the grassroot level. “We had abolished untouchability from our society. Now, we should abolish social stigma surrounding transgenders.”

“But we need to take immediate action to prevent another murder,” he said.