Trans woman and activist Gul Panra was murdered in Peshawar city on Wednesday 9 September. According to Gulf News, Panra was shot six times, and her friend and fellow trans woman, Chahat, was also injured. Chahat is now in critical condition in the Khyber Teaching Hospital. No suspects have been identified yet.
The president of Pakistani group TransAction Alliance, Farzana Ilyas, has condemned the attack, demanding justice for Gul and Chahat. Ilyas also said Pakistani authorities should be doing more to protect the country’s trans community. The hashtag #JusticeforGulPanra has been circulating on social media, with a twitter user saying the attack is a ‘reminder of the lack of tolerance’ of the LGBTQ+ community in Pakistan. They continued ‘I hope the culprits are brought to justice as soon as possible’.
According to a 2019 Human Rights Watch report, 479 attacks against trans women were reported in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province alone during 2018. A further 68 trans people have been murdered since 2015. The LGBTQ+ community as a whole are often subjected to discrimination in Pakistan and same-sex relations are still punishable by imprisonment.
TransAction says it aims to provide a ‘safe and tolerant’ society for trans and gender non-conforming people. It hopes everyone will one day be able to live ‘free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity’.
