THOOTHUKUDI: A trans woman activist has alleged a threat to her life as well as to that of the transgender community living in Sandeep Nagar near Kovilpatti for helping a queer couple.
In her petition submitted to Chief Minister's cell and the Thoothukudi superintendent of police, Thirunar Urimai Foundation president Grace Banu said the transgender community in Sandeep Nagar had provided shelter to the couple - 19-year-old Karthiga (name changed), a cisgender woman from VK Puram in Tirunelveli, and a trans male minor from Thalamuthunagar in Thoothukudi.
Sources said though the transgender community had produced Karthiga at the VK Puram police station on May 25 after a woman missing complaint was filed by her family, she refused to go with her relatives and returned to Sandeep Nagar. "Later, Karthiga left Sandeep Nagar and took refuge at a government-run home, nearly 600 km away from Thoothukudi,'' they said.
The transgender community also produced the minor at the Kovilpatti All Women Police Station following a complaint from his parents on June 18. The police personnel sent him home with his mother with the condition that the parents should not torture him.
On Thursday, the minor, alleging harassment after revealing his gender identity to his family, left home. "He was taken to Thalamuthunagar police station for inquiry," said sources.
Meanwhile, the parents of Karthiga and a few "casteist goons" laid seige to Sandeep Nagar and issued death threats to the transgender community for protecting the couple. The trans persons claimed the family and those who accompanied them threatened to kill Grace Banu. "Who will question us? I will manage to come out of jail after seven years," a transgender resident quoted one of the relatives of Karthiga as saying.
Sandeep Nagar, named after the former district collector Sandeep Nanduri, is a colony of nearly 30 transgender persons near Kovilpatti.
In her complaint, Grace Banu sought protection and appealed the policemen to warn the "casteists persons" against troubling her and other trans persons residing at Sandeep Nagar.
"A police patrol at Sandeep Nagar may be better as a safety measure," she added.