Chennai: Two days after a transgender woman was murdered ruthlessly in SS Manikapuram area in Thoothukudi, the police are yet to make any arrests.
On Friday morning, Rajathi, a priest and a Bharatnatyam dancer at a temple was found dead in the sanctum sanctorum of Mariamman temple, which she had been running.
According to sources, Maruthu, with whom Rajathi was in a relationship, had been harassing her for over a year. “Maruthu, 23, was the temple secretary and used to work closely with Rajathi. He, however, married someone else but had been pestering her since,” a source in the transgender community said.
On Friday morning, Maruthu and another man entered the temple carrying a sickle while Rajathi was performing a pooja inside the sanctum. They attacked her, chopped her body and placed her head outside the temple.
Five special teams have been formed to nab the accused but the lax attitude is condemnable, say activists. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Grace Banu, founder of the Trans Right Now Collective and a native of Thoothukudi said that transphobia was the underlying cause for the lack of response.
“Transgender people's troubles are completely ignored. We know the identity of the main accused and the second can be identified by nabbing the first. Citing other more important work, the police department is not responding at all,” she said.
Maruthu was angry because Rajathi had been spending time with another man after he got married, sources said. “He also lost his secretary's post soon after Rajathi moved away from him. She had helped him a lot and even arranged for finances for his business,” a source close to Rajathi said.
Grace Banu pointed out that the police department would have swung into action immediately if the victim had been a man or a woman. “Even in death, transgender people are being sidelined. Not one person is discussing this. If it were otherwise, the media would have taken it up much more seriously; politicians would have made statements and debates. Do you hear anything now?” Grace asked.
She said that the reason transgender people have not protested is because they are afraid of the consequences. Grace said, “Our stomachs are burning but we are afraid. We are a minority community and if the man can cut one person's head and limbs separately in broad daylight in a temple, why can't he do the same with us?”
