Transgender gunned down in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

A transgender was shot dead allegedly by unidentified assailants in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said today.

A group of armed men last night raided Khan Ullah alias Sheena's house in Swabi district of the province, beat her up and then shot her dead, Dawn quoted Qamar Nasim, an activist associated with charity Trans Action Pakistan, as saying.

Local police station house officer Shafiur Rehman confirmed the killing and said an FIR has been registered and probe was underway, according to the report.

The motive of the killing was not known yet, the SHO said.

The activist accused the provincial government of failing to protect transgenders and claimed that 56 community members have been killed since 2015.

The report said that cases of violence against the transgender community are a common occurrence in Pakistan.

According to Trans Action Alliance KP, seven transgenders were killed in the province in 2017, while 208 cases of different kinds of violence, including sexual harassment, rape, gang rape, torture, extortion, denial of access to services, and misbehaviour at police stations and public spaces were recorded, it added.