People protest violence to trans women in Pakistan (ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images)

A transgender person has been killed and another injured in a shooting that took place in Peshawar in Pakistan.

An unidentified assailant opened fire near Raja Ground Bridge in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa city, police have revealed. The deceased person has been identified as Mishi. The other victim, named Tara, was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds.

According to The Express Tribune in a report published on 16 July, Mishi and Tara had gone to Raja Ground Bridge in order to retrieve a phone and some money from a friend. The task resulted in an altercation that led to the shooting.

Officers arrived on scene shortly after to transport Mishi’s body to the hospital for a post-mortem examination and to collect forensic evidence from the crime scene. A full police investigation is ongoing.

Arzoo Khan, who is president of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Transgender Community and executive director of the Manzil Foundation, strongly condemned the shooting.

“The continuous targeting of transgender people is unacceptable and requires immediate punitive action,” she said.

She went on to demand that the Pakistani government undertake measures to protect the trans community from further harm, and “put an end to the impunity and fearlessness surrounding acts of violence against them”.

Although same-sex relations are illegal in Pakistan, trans people have had the right to change their legal gender in the country since 2010. Anti-discrimination laws have been in place for the trans community since 2018.

Pakistan’s Transgender Person’s Act 2018 allows trans people to change their gender to male, female, non-binary or a third gender based on self-perceived gender identity. Trans people are not required to undergo gender-affirming surgery in order to change their ID.

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