Tamil Nadu-based transgender and Dalit rights activist Grace Banu has been booked in an assault and robbery case by the Uttar Pradesh police. In her official response to the police, Grace Banu said she has never set foot in Lucknow and was in Chennai on the day the alleged incident took place.
The case, registered by Lucknow’s Talkatora Police Station, is based on a complaint by Devika Devendra S Manglamukhi, a member of the UP Transgender Welfare Board. She has accused Banu and three others of robbing and threatening her on December 22, 2024. The police summons issued to Grace on April 22 warns of arrest, if she fails to appear within seven days.
In a detailed letter dated April 24, Grace responded to the police stating unequivocally: “I have never visited Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in my life. I was not present in Lucknow, neither at the time of the alleged crime nor on the entire day, i.e. 22.12.2024.” “The allegations made by the complainant against me are without any basis in facts and are hence false,” she said.
Grace Banu said there is documentary and witness evidence to prove her presence in Chennai during the alleged incident and said she was unaware of the FIR until the police informed her. “I became aware of an FIR being registered against me only after I was contacted by you regarding this notice,” she wrote.
Expressing inability to travel to Lucknow due to economic hardship she requested the police to record her statement via video call. “As a transgender person, I don’t have the economic means to travel to Lucknow from Tuticorin. Hence, I request your goodself that I may be exempted from personal appearance pursuant to the summons issued to me and that my statement may be recorded through online video conferencing facilities,” she wrote, assuring the police that she would cooperate with the investigation.
As per the first information report (FIR), Devika was attacked in Lucknow by a masked group who robbed her purse and threatened her with sharp weapons. Grace Banu and three others – Ashish Kumar alias Yashika, Jain Kaushik, and Rithvik Das – identified with the movement demanding horizontal reservation for trans persons were named in the FIR. Horizontal reservation would provide a quota within quota for trans and intersex persons, which means they can avail separate reservation in the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and general categories.