‘Arrest Venkat’: Tweetstorm by trans community for police inaction against murder accused
‘Arrest Venkat’: Tweetstorm by trans community for police inaction against murder accused

‘Arrest Venkat’: Tweetstorm by trans community for police inaction against murder accused

Venkat Yadav, the accused in the murder of a transgender woman in Hyderabad in 2015, is known for exhorting, murdering and terrorising trans people.

Transgender activists in Hyderabad have kicked up a storm on Twitter demanding the arrest of Venkat Yadav, the accused in the murder of Pravalika, a transgender woman, in Hyderabad in 2015. The activists allege that despite multiple FIRs lodged against Venkat, he is on the run and has been shifting locations to evade arrest.

Venkat Yadav is a known history-sheeter, accused of harassing and attacking the transgender community for years by indulging in extortion. Yadav’s crimes date back to 2014 when a team of assailants, led by Venkat, sexually assaulted and robbed two transgender people, Maggi and Reema. They hit them with stones on their heads and robbed them of their daily wages and mobile phones.

From 2014 to 2018, five FIRs have been lodged against Venkat in various police stations in Hyderabad for alleged harassment and extortion of the transgender community. But it’s only after the murder of Pravalika that cops initiated action and arrested Venkat.

On September 27, Venkat’s associate Sai Pavan attacked Yasmin, another transgender woman, demanding the monthly maamul. He attacked her with an iron pipe and stole Rs 2 lakh from her cupboard. An FIR was filed at the Banjara Hills police station on September 29. Following the incident, transgender persons from Hyderabad staged a protest outside the police station demanding Venkat’s arrest.

Following the crimes, a lot of people have come out on Twitter, pledging support to the transgender persons and demanding the immediate arrest of the accused. Many have also questioned the apparent laxity by police, who have given a free hand to the accused despite the mounting evidence.

Talking to TNM, Kartik Bittu, a transgender activist and member of Telangana Hijra Intersex Transgender Samiti (THITS), says that the association had documented around 30 to 40 attacks on the transgender community in 2015 but the police filed only three FIRs against the accused despite a gamut of evidence.

“In January 2015, Pravalika was murdered by Venkat’s associates after a fight broke out when the victim was being of her daily earnings. After the brutal killing, we held an intense agitation to arrest the accused, after which, the police finally arrested Venkat the following February. But he was again out in October on unconditional bail and continued harassing the complainants and the transgender community in the city. While out on bail, he was also allegedly accused of committing another murder,” Kartik Bittu says.

Venkat has been on a spree of attacks against the transgender community even while out on a bail and the cops’ inaction is appalling, transgender activists allege. “Before Pravalika’s murder, we had submitted enough evidence to arrest Venkat. But their inaction in following the due process of the law claimed more lives from our community,” Kartik adds.

THITS recently submitted a representation to ACP K Srinivas and requested him to arrest Venkat Yadav in 24 hours as Venkat and his gang were making threat calls to Chadramukhi, another transgender person, over the phone.

Responding to the complaints, the official told the Hans India, “We are actively searching for Venkat Yadav, who is continuously changing his location, but we will catch him soon.”

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