10 transgenders booked for abusing SI, damaging police jeep

The police said that the transgenders were agitated after the sub-inspector tried to chase them away after receiving a complaint from the control room. The complainant had alleged that the transgenders harassed pedestrians and motorists and demanded money. 

The group then verbally abused the policemen and smashed the windshield of a police jeep. The transgenders alleged that cops had been unnecessarily harassing them and they were only protesting against the high-handedness of the police. 

The video of the altercation between the transgenders and cops went viral and the police had summoned the transgenders to the Aminjikarai station to settle the issue. “It is an ongoing problem. Transgenders are agitated by the constant checking of police, but we must act when the public complain about their behaviour. So, we have booked a case against them for abusing an official on duty and also for damaging public property. However, no arrests have been made yet,” K Chandra Sekaran, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar told DTNext.

The face-off between transgenders and police worsened following the suicide of a member of their community in Pondy Bazaar police station recently alleging harassment. Transgenders had lodged complaints against the policemen accusing them of harassment. The police claimed that the transgenders harassed pedestrians and motorists and they were only asked to stay off the roads. 

“What happened on Nelson Manickam Road is routine. The police only tried to speak to them, but they started abusing the cops. We have been forced to book a case after the crowd turned violent and damaged the police vehicle,” another police officer said.