Bengaluru: Transgenders trouble us and create nuisance, complain Shopkeepers

Bengaluru: With Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy instructing the police to end beggary in the city and to monitor transgenders, most of whom he said were indulging in prostitution and robbery besides begging at signals, many shop owners in the city demanded strict action against transgenders, who harass and insult them if not paid. "Transgenders have made our lives miserable. They visit our shops in batches throughout the day, beg for money and create nuisance inside the shop if they are not paid," they complained. Narrating his ordeal, a mobile shop owner in Indiranagar said that the transgenders have become like hafta collectors who visit to his shop every day. "I pay them out of fear as they create a nuisance in front of customers. It has to stop. I can understand if a disabled person asks for money.

The police should intervene and ensure that these transgenders don't bother shop owners," he said. Another shop owner in Malleswaram said that it was fear of getting insulted in front of people that force him to pay as, he said, the transgenders use filthy language if not paid. A senior police official told Deccan Chronicle that the police in patrolling vehicles have been instructed to visit places where trangenders are more in number and disperse them.

"We have asked them to detain all beggars," he said. The police had received multiple complaints of transgenders being involved in prostitution and robbery besides beggary, following which Mr Reddy asked the police to act against them strictly.