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A Transgender Activist Was Abducted and Raped Before a Climate March, Organizers Say

“She is so frightened that she does not want to register an official police complaint. In fact, she is barely speaking to anyone.”
Rimal Farrukh
Islamabad, PK
climate march, displacement, activist, raped, abducted, Pakistan
Locals protesting against the destruction of indigenous agricultural land at the People's Climate March on Dec. 12 in Karachi city, Pakistan. Photo: Zuha Siddiqui

The night before the People’s Climate March in Pakistan’s largest city Karachi, a transgender activist with the indigenous land rights coalition Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT) was kidnapped, tortured and raped on her way home after their protest meeting, according to one of the organizers.  

The transgender woman’s abductors, the organizers added, tried to extort information from her about the protest on Dec. 12. 

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The climate march protest aimed to raise awareness on the ecological disaster unfolding in Karachi and its surrounding areas, where environmental and urban planning experts say gentrification and destruction of indigenously owned agricultural land has adversely affected the environment and the livelihoods of working class communities. 

climate march, displacement, activist, raped, abducted, Pakistan

The night before the People’s Climate March in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, a transgender activist with the indigenous land rights coalition Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT) was kidnapped, tortured and raped on her way home after their protest meeting, according to one of the organizers. Photo: Zuha Siddiqui

According to Gender Interactive Alliance violence case manager Shahzadi Rai, the alleged attack seemed to be premeditated because the activist was blindfolded, held at gunpoint and held hostage for three hours before being released. The survivor was questioned about details regarding the march programme and its speakers. 

The transgender woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, is reportedly too terrified to file a police report against the perpetrators. “She is so frightened that she does not want to register an official police complaint. In fact, she is barely speaking to anyone. She has stressed again and again that she doesn't want her name to be publicly released,” Rai told VICE World News. 

Her fear is warranted, based on the experiences of other members of her community. Police brutality and abuse against Pakistan’s indigenous khawaja sira or transgender and intersex communities is rampant. In 2016, Human Rights Watch called out Pakistan’s provincial governments and law enforcement agencies for carrying out surveillance, intimidation and harassment against local khawaja sira communities. 

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“If the authorities have such an issue with a transgender person involved with a climate march, then this is not the right way to deal with it. We are already an oppressed community and if the authorities will engage in such activities against us, then it is completely wrong,” said Rai. 

Although the KBT has not blamed the attack on local law enforcement, it  pointed out a pattern of police brutality and state-sponsored violence against displaced communities affected by the city’s large-scale demolition projects.

“We aren't in a position to determine who it was. The facts of the situation are that there has been a context of violence leading up to this march that has been directed at the affectees who have been centred at the march,” a KBT spokesperson, who preferred not to be identified by name for safety concerns, told VICE World News.

climate march, displacement, activist, raped, abducted, Pakistan

Heavy police presence at the People's Climate March held in Karachi City, Pakistan on Dec. 12. Activists say that police prevented them from marching. Photo: Karachi Bachao Tehreek

In July, around 156 people protesting indigenous land occupation by housing development scheme Bahria Town were detained under terrorism charges for allegedly setting fire to the housing community’s gate. Most of the accused, many of whom were poor villagers, have denied the charges. 

Protestors were reportedly barricaded by police vans and questioned by law enforcement on the day of the protest march itself. 

climate march, displacement, activist, raped, abducted, Pakistan

Police vans surround protesters at the People's Climate March on Dec. 12 in Karachi city, Pakistan. Photo: Karachi Bachao Tehreek

According to lawyer and KBT organiser Abira Ashfaq, the heavy police presence at the protest was unwarranted. “The protest was peaceful, so the heavily armed police force and rangers were impositional and unnecessarily impinged on our right to free assembly.” Ashfaq told VICE World News.

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“In fact, this was a form of false imprisonment and detention – that they blocked our route and right of way twice and intimidated us.”

The provincial chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took notice of the incident and directed the inspector general of police to investigate the matter. Pakistan’s Ministry of Human Rights has also reached out to the khawaja sira community to offer support. 

KBT has decided not to file a police complaint. In a statement, the organization said:  “We have no faith in our systems of ‘justice.’ And so, we will not be filing a FIR (police complaint) against the unidentified men who raped and abducted our trans comrade on the night before our march.”

Follow Rimal Farrukh on Twitter.