Visakhapatnam, June 19 (PTI) In a first, Andhra Pradesh police has booked a case under the Transgender Person (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 and arrested four men for molesting a transgender woman in Visakhapatnam.
On June 8, a 26-year-old Dalit transgender woman, after watching a movie at a local theatre, boarded an autorickshaw from Jagadamba junction to Hanumanthavaka in which three men were already on board, police said.
After a little while, the three men started touching her private parts, forcing her to raise a hue and cry, and ultimately disembark from the autorickshaw at Pedagadili Junction, the police said.
Once she alighted, all four men, including the auto driver, started beating her up, especially on her head, her complaint states.
“Soon after she got down from the vehicle, she complained and immediately we registered a case under the Transgender Act,” Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Trivikram Varma told PTI on Monday.
Police arrested Vasupalli Srinivasu (33), Hanish Kumar (26), Satish Kumar (30) and Manoj Kumar (23) for molesting the transgender woman.
They booked a case under IPC Sections 354 (assaulting a woman) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) read with 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and Section 18 (d) (endangering life and safety) from the Transgender Person (Protection of Rights) Act 2019.
“This is the first case in Andhra Pradesh (under the transgender protection act),” ACP Vivekananda, who is also the nodal officer for the transgender protection cell of the coastal district said, but added a caveat against the misuse of the law: “Kindly, my request is that transgenders should not take this as an advantage.” The case was booked at a Disha police station, which are model stations whose objective is to render speedy justice for women who are victims of sexual assault (rape) and harassment and children under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. PTI STH ANE
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