peshawar – Body of a transgender person lied in a pool of blood at a hospital in Peshawar, with no family member around the body since many such people flee their homes when they cannot find space there due to their gender.
Mano, who belonged to Malakand district, had been living in Peshawar with her community. She was shot dead and later buried in Peshawar, as the relatives did not take the body to their village. Her only mourners with her body were her trans community members.
Mano was reportedly killed by a Marhakh, a term meaning a boyfriend in the community, in Peshawar the other day.
A transgender person, Farzana, said that she fled her home in young age because she could not adjust with her family members.
"When there used to be some ceremony, my family would not take me there because they thought my behaviour was abnormal being a shemale. I could not socialise there. This is why I fled home and later took refuse with a guru," she said.
She said that a guru is an elder who takes care of transgender persons living with him. And in such kind of life, many transgender often become victims of bullets and murders.
Marhakh is mostly involved in the murder cases of transgender persons, according to those privy to the community.
Marhakh can be of two kinds: either he is rich and spends money on a trans person or he can be a poor person depending on the income that a transgender earns through music and dance programmes.
In most cases of murder, a Marhakh has killed a transgender when he sees that she has developed relations with another person, even after he (the killer) had spent money on her needs like makeup, food and others. The killer thinks he is doing the murder "for honour".
In other case when a Marhakh who consumes money from the income of a transgender person can also turn into a killer when he stops receiving money from her.
A female rights activist, wishing anonymity, told The Nation that most of the murder cases occur due to the attitude problem and sour relations between the transgenders and their boyfriends.
"Transgender community have their own language. When they speak, you may not understand their language. And this particular language is transferred orally; there is no book on the trans' language," she added.
She further said that even in the times of the kings, there were trans persons who had the same language they use today. "They use the term 'Marhakh' for boyfriend not just in Pashto but in other languages too. They call Rs100 note a 'Katka', for example," she elaborated.
Recently several transgender persons were shot in Mansehra, Peshawar and other districts and the boyfriends were involved in most of the cases.
