Two Pakistani transgenders killed by Saudi police for 'dressing up as women'

PESHAWAR - On Tuesday two Pakistani transgenders succumbed to brutal torture by Saudi police in Riyadh for 'cross-dressing', Express Tribune reported.

The transgender individuals were natives of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and were residing in Saudi Arabia with other members of the transgender community.

The police raided the house where a formal meeting of transgenders called ‘Guru Chela Chalan’ in which a Guru (leader) and Chelas (Students) are selected, was taking place.

Colonel Fawaz bin Jameel alMaiman, the police’s media spokesperson in Riyadh, who was talking to a local news agency said that the field-control management put the site under constant surveillance adding that the 35 people inside had been arrested.

While 11 were released later after paying a fine of 150,000 riyals, 22 are still in police custody, Naseem added.

The suffering ended for these two after being physically tortured. The rest are still languishing in Saudi jails, he added.

”No one is there to save them as the life of a transgender is not of any value to anyone, not even for our own government,” he lamented.

Naseem said that the National Commission for Human Rights had been contacted and they are awaiting their response.