Police Force Transgenders To Strip To Prove Gender
Four transgender persons in Tripura have accused police officers of stripping them naked and "disclosing gender.
A 2014 Supreme Court judgment had declared transgender people the "third gender and that they are entitled to the same fundamental rights as everyone else under the Indian Constitution, and have the right to self-identify as male, female, or third gender. However, transpersons in India continue to face social stigma and are frequently harassed. In a similar case of harassment, four transgender persons in Tripura were arrested by the police on 8th January when they were returning from a party and taken to the West Agartala Women Police Station. They said, "We were asked to strip in presence of both male and female police in the night.” The most embarrassing thing was that the police kept our wigs and inner garments in the police station.” The complaint said that they were charged with extortion without any proof ."It is a completely false charge". They were eventually released after allegedly being made to sign a document vowing to never "crossdress" again or they might be arrested. The complaint said that a photojournalist had followed the four from the hotel where they were partying and had even tried to touch them. He wanted to dance with them in the hotel and taunted them. "We did not entertain him but he followed us with the police officials and caught hold of us” On 10th January they filed a complaint against the police alleging that the police officers stripped them naked to disclose their gender.
LGBTQ+ rights activist and transgender herself, Sneha Gupta Roy told Hindustan Times, "Their lives are stigmatized after a few videos of their harassment went viral on social media. The whole community has also suffered psychological and emotional harm due to the incident. "Whatever happened is a violation of human rights. We will fight legally to get them justice," added advocate Nilanjana Roy. A Tripura Police official told Hindustan Times, "I have heard they were held and we have asked for a report to ascertain on what grounds they were arrested. The official said that the guilty will be punished. India's 2011 census listed 4.87 lakh persons who identified as the third gender. However, trans rights activists argue that the figures are vastly undercounted since most transpersons do not have formal documentation or they do not come out fearing stigma.
