Three Transgender Women Shot Dead In Karachi, Police Launch Investigation

Gunmen shot and killed three transgender women on the outskirts of Karachi on Sunday before fleeing the scene, highlighting the ongoing risks faced by the community in Pakistan, AP reported.

The victims’ bodies were discovered on a roadside, and all three had been shot at close range. They were subsequently buried in a local graveyard, senior police official Javed Abro told AP. The motive for the attack was not immediately known, and police are conducting a manhunt to apprehend the suspects.

Sindh Province Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah condemned the killings and ordered an investigation. “Transgenders are an oppressed section of society,” he said, adding that those responsible would be arrested.

AP reported that members of the transgender community protested outside Karachi’s state-run Jinnah Hospital, where the bodies were taken for autopsy. Protesters warned of nationwide demonstrations if the killers were not brought to justice.

Transgender rights activist Bindiya Rana told AP that violence against the community “is not new and it is deeply embedded in our society.” She warned that a failure to identify the perpetrators would trigger countrywide protests.

The Gender Interactive Alliance, a local rights group, identified the victims as Karachi residents who earned their living by begging. The group also referenced a separate knife attack two days earlier that left another transgender woman critically injured at Karachi’s Sea View Beach.

“These back-to-back tragedies show that the community is being systematically targeted. This is not just about individual killings, it is an attempt to terrorise and silence an entire community,” the alliance said, calling for immediate arrests, a dedicated protection unit for transgender persons, and stronger support from civil society.

Transgender people in Pakistan frequently face abuse and are sometimes victims of so-called honour killings by relatives for perceived sexual transgressions. Although Pakistan’s Supreme Court has legally recognised transgender people as a third gender and parliament passed a law in 2018 securing their fundamental rights, including legal gender recognition, activists say social stigma and violence remain widespread.

(With inputs from The Associated Press)