THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city police on Tuesday registered a case over the attack on a transgender woman at Valiyathura by a mob who suspected the victim could be a member of a child-lifting gang.
The Valiyathura police registered the case based on the instructions of city police commissioner P Prakash. The police said they registered the case against around 15 persons suspected to be involved in the attack. They have been booked under IPC Sections 143, 147 and 149 ( Punishment for rioting), Section 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) and Section 323 ( Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt).
The transwoman, identified as Chandana of Navaikulam, was manhandled on Sunday night after the transgender was found in suspicious circumstances. Some of the locals thought Chandana was dressed up like a woman to commit some crimes. As the rumours over the child-lifting gangs had been spreading on social media, the locals mistook Chandana as a child-lifter, the police said. Chandana was also stripped by the crowd demanding an identity card.
However, the local police came to the spot and took Chandana to the police station. The incident drew widespread criticism after the visuals of the attack went viral. The video shows Chandana being attacked and verbally abused in a severe manner. The transgender community reacted sharply and blamed the police apathy in diluting the incident.