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Dec. 13th, 2002 10:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
subjectiveplease distribute widely. this is an email campaign to insist on an impartial investigation into the recent death of a transwoman in india.
>JUSTICE FOR CHANDINI
>
>Chandini alias Nazir, a 22 year old hijra (transgender woman) died
>in mysterious circumstances on the night of December 1, 2002,
>Sunday in Bangalore, India.
>
>On December 4th all English and Kannada newspapers
>sensationalised the death of Chandini. Her death was reported as
>a suicide. The reason given was that she set herself afire because
>her husband Gnanaprakash discovered her hijra identity and
>threatened to reveal it to his parents. They reported that Chandini
>deceived Gnanaprakash by hiding her hijra identity at the time of
>marriage. It is not at all surprising that the police also accepted in
>totality this version of what had happened as supplied by her
>husband.
>
>The following is a brief accounting of the true events as ascertained
>by a fact-finding team comprising of representatives from the
>Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Karnataka; Alternative
>Law Forum (a group of lawyers); Sangama (a sexuality minorities'
>rights group); and Vividha (an autonomous group of sexuality
>minorities).
>
>Chandini hails from Arsikere, Hasan and has been living in
>Bangalore for the past 5-6 years. Gnanaprakash initially met her in
>a hamam (bath houses where hijras live). After a six-month
>relationship and after much persuasion Chandini agreed to marry
>him. They married 16 months ago. There is photographic and
>videographic evidence of the marriage, and of it having been
>attended by many friends of Chandini from the hijra community. A
>week after the marriage, Gnanaprakash accompanied Chandini
>when she decided to go for Nirvan (Castration) in a hospital in
>Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh. After the operation Chandini and her
>newly wed husband lived at Chandini's Guru (Hijra mother in the
>hijra community) Prema's house, for about a month. Later they
>rented a house in Amrutha Halli, on the outskirts of Bangalore and
>lived together as husband and wife, for 5 months. He was often
>violent towards her and began to harass, beat her and took away all
>the money that she was earning through sex-work. After six
>months of living together unable to bear his constant demands for
>money and to escape his torture, she left for Pune.
>
>Chandini returned to Bangalore on November 7, 2002 and began
>living with her Guru in Amrutha Halli. Gnanaprakash learnt of her
>return to Bangalore and came to her Guru's house. In the absence
>of her Guru he forced her to leave with him. She had on her
>person 60 grams of gold jewellery and Rs. 50,000 in cash when she
>left. Gnanaprakash took her to a rented house in Ramaswami
>Palya (Banaswadi police Station Limit) in Bangalore. He
>deliberately isolated Chandini from her only support, the hijra
>community. She was found dead on the night of December 1,
>2002.
>
>Local police in Banaswadi Police Station initially refused to register
>the complaint of Prema (Chandini's Guru). They in fact said that
>they do not recognise the hijra community or its relationships. They
>said they would act only if Chandini's biological parents issued a
>complaint. They also claimed that they only recovered Rs.5000 in
>cash while investigating Chandini's death.
>
>There are several issues that suggest suspicion of foul play in
>Chandini's death. First, it is obvious from the foregoing that the
>statement of Chandini's husband of being tricked into marriage by
>her is a lie. There is evidence of his having frequented hamams
>from earlier days, and the photographic evidence of the marriage
>clearly shows that he new Chandini was a hijra at the time of
>marriage. Second, there are witnesses to the fact that Chandini was
>brutally treated by her husband, and ran away from him to Pune.
>Third, when Chandini left her Guru's house (under pressure) she
>had with her Rs.50000 and 60 grams of gold, while the police
>claimed to have recovered only Rs.5000.
>
>We do not have much faith in the local police of Banaswadi Police
>Station undertaking an impartial investigation. There bias against
>the hijra community is obvious. There is also the possibility of they
>being offered cash inducement in order not to undertake the
>investigation seriously.
>
>The fact finding committee has spoken to Chandini's parents who
>dispute local police claims of the Rs. 5,000, found with Chandini,
>having been returned to them. They also mentioned that when
>they first saw the dead body of Chandini, she had gold ornaments
>on her which were missing later.
>
>We are starting an email campaign as one of the many ways in
>which to pressurize the police to investigate this incident seriously,
>and to ensure that people responsible for Chandini's death do not
>go unpunished. We request you therefore to send a mail to the
>Chief Minister of Karnataka at cm@kar.nic.in and to the
>Chairperson, NHRC at chairnhrc@nic.in, demanding an impartial
>enquiry into Chandini's death. A model copy of a letter to the Chief
>Minister is given below. Please also send a copy to
>sangama@sangamaonline.org
>
>Please act immediately and widely distribute this mail.
>
>Visit our website www.sangamaonline.org for information about
>hijras and other sexuality minorities.
>
>In Solidarity,
>
>Famila, Revathi, Roshan, Lokesh, Sharada, Kumar, Chandru,
>Sumathi, Lakshmi, Ajith, Manohar, Nithin
>For Sangama
>________________________________________________
>
>Copy of letter to Chief Minister of Karnataka / The Chairperson
>NHRC
>
>Chief Minister's e-mail : cm@kar.nic.in or smk@bangaloreit.com
>NHRC Chairperson's e-mail : chairnhrc@nic.in
>
>
>Sir,
>
>We have come to know of the death in mysterious circumstances
>of Chandini alias Nazir, a 22 year old hijra (transgender woman) on
>the night of December 1, 2002, Sunday in Bangalore. There is
>reasonable suspicion to suggest foul play in her death.
>
>We have also come to know that the local police in Banaswadi
>Police Station initially refused to register the complaint, and are not
>very serious in their investigations into the matter. They are also
>many noticeable discrepancies with their accounts of the incident.
>
>We believe that people of all communities, and all social
>persuasions have an equal right under the law in this society. We
>also know that the reality is not so for most people. In particular,
>minority communities like hijras are subject to severe persecution
>by the society, and by the police who are expected to ensure that
>no such persecution takes place.
>
>We therefore request your direct intervention to ensure an impartial
>enquiry into the whole affair, and punishment of all those guilty.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>(your name)
>JUSTICE FOR CHANDINI
>
>Chandini alias Nazir, a 22 year old hijra (transgender woman) died
>in mysterious circumstances on the night of December 1, 2002,
>Sunday in Bangalore, India.
>
>On December 4th all English and Kannada newspapers
>sensationalised the death of Chandini. Her death was reported as
>a suicide. The reason given was that she set herself afire because
>her husband Gnanaprakash discovered her hijra identity and
>threatened to reveal it to his parents. They reported that Chandini
>deceived Gnanaprakash by hiding her hijra identity at the time of
>marriage. It is not at all surprising that the police also accepted in
>totality this version of what had happened as supplied by her
>husband.
>
>The following is a brief accounting of the true events as ascertained
>by a fact-finding team comprising of representatives from the
>Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Karnataka; Alternative
>Law Forum (a group of lawyers); Sangama (a sexuality minorities'
>rights group); and Vividha (an autonomous group of sexuality
>minorities).
>
>Chandini hails from Arsikere, Hasan and has been living in
>Bangalore for the past 5-6 years. Gnanaprakash initially met her in
>a hamam (bath houses where hijras live). After a six-month
>relationship and after much persuasion Chandini agreed to marry
>him. They married 16 months ago. There is photographic and
>videographic evidence of the marriage, and of it having been
>attended by many friends of Chandini from the hijra community. A
>week after the marriage, Gnanaprakash accompanied Chandini
>when she decided to go for Nirvan (Castration) in a hospital in
>Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh. After the operation Chandini and her
>newly wed husband lived at Chandini's Guru (Hijra mother in the
>hijra community) Prema's house, for about a month. Later they
>rented a house in Amrutha Halli, on the outskirts of Bangalore and
>lived together as husband and wife, for 5 months. He was often
>violent towards her and began to harass, beat her and took away all
>the money that she was earning through sex-work. After six
>months of living together unable to bear his constant demands for
>money and to escape his torture, she left for Pune.
>
>Chandini returned to Bangalore on November 7, 2002 and began
>living with her Guru in Amrutha Halli. Gnanaprakash learnt of her
>return to Bangalore and came to her Guru's house. In the absence
>of her Guru he forced her to leave with him. She had on her
>person 60 grams of gold jewellery and Rs. 50,000 in cash when she
>left. Gnanaprakash took her to a rented house in Ramaswami
>Palya (Banaswadi police Station Limit) in Bangalore. He
>deliberately isolated Chandini from her only support, the hijra
>community. She was found dead on the night of December 1,
>2002.
>
>Local police in Banaswadi Police Station initially refused to register
>the complaint of Prema (Chandini's Guru). They in fact said that
>they do not recognise the hijra community or its relationships. They
>said they would act only if Chandini's biological parents issued a
>complaint. They also claimed that they only recovered Rs.5000 in
>cash while investigating Chandini's death.
>
>There are several issues that suggest suspicion of foul play in
>Chandini's death. First, it is obvious from the foregoing that the
>statement of Chandini's husband of being tricked into marriage by
>her is a lie. There is evidence of his having frequented hamams
>from earlier days, and the photographic evidence of the marriage
>clearly shows that he new Chandini was a hijra at the time of
>marriage. Second, there are witnesses to the fact that Chandini was
>brutally treated by her husband, and ran away from him to Pune.
>Third, when Chandini left her Guru's house (under pressure) she
>had with her Rs.50000 and 60 grams of gold, while the police
>claimed to have recovered only Rs.5000.
>
>We do not have much faith in the local police of Banaswadi Police
>Station undertaking an impartial investigation. There bias against
>the hijra community is obvious. There is also the possibility of they
>being offered cash inducement in order not to undertake the
>investigation seriously.
>
>The fact finding committee has spoken to Chandini's parents who
>dispute local police claims of the Rs. 5,000, found with Chandini,
>having been returned to them. They also mentioned that when
>they first saw the dead body of Chandini, she had gold ornaments
>on her which were missing later.
>
>We are starting an email campaign as one of the many ways in
>which to pressurize the police to investigate this incident seriously,
>and to ensure that people responsible for Chandini's death do not
>go unpunished. We request you therefore to send a mail to the
>Chief Minister of Karnataka at cm@kar.nic.in and to the
>Chairperson, NHRC at chairnhrc@nic.in, demanding an impartial
>enquiry into Chandini's death. A model copy of a letter to the Chief
>Minister is given below. Please also send a copy to
>sangama@sangamaonline.org
>
>Please act immediately and widely distribute this mail.
>
>Visit our website www.sangamaonline.org for information about
>hijras and other sexuality minorities.
>
>In Solidarity,
>
>Famila, Revathi, Roshan, Lokesh, Sharada, Kumar, Chandru,
>Sumathi, Lakshmi, Ajith, Manohar, Nithin
>For Sangama
>________________________________________________
>
>Copy of letter to Chief Minister of Karnataka / The Chairperson
>NHRC
>
>Chief Minister's e-mail : cm@kar.nic.in or smk@bangaloreit.com
>NHRC Chairperson's e-mail : chairnhrc@nic.in
>
>
>Sir,
>
>We have come to know of the death in mysterious circumstances
>of Chandini alias Nazir, a 22 year old hijra (transgender woman) on
>the night of December 1, 2002, Sunday in Bangalore. There is
>reasonable suspicion to suggest foul play in her death.
>
>We have also come to know that the local police in Banaswadi
>Police Station initially refused to register the complaint, and are not
>very serious in their investigations into the matter. They are also
>many noticeable discrepancies with their accounts of the incident.
>
>We believe that people of all communities, and all social
>persuasions have an equal right under the law in this society. We
>also know that the reality is not so for most people. In particular,
>minority communities like hijras are subject to severe persecution
>by the society, and by the police who are expected to ensure that
>no such persecution takes place.
>
>We therefore request your direct intervention to ensure an impartial
>enquiry into the whole affair, and punishment of all those guilty.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>(your name)