Three transgender persons shot dead in Karachi's Memon Goth

KARACHI (Dunya News) – The bullet-riddled bodies of three transgender individuals were discovered in Karachi’s Memon Goth in the early hours of Sunday, police and rescue officials confirmed.

According to the Edhi Information Centre, the victims were found shortly after midnight and shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal procedures.

City police official Javed Ahmed Abro said that investigators were still working to confirm the victims’ identities and that it was too early to determine a motive.

Malir SSP Dr Abdul Khaliq Pirzada reached the crime scene and directed senior officers to ensure the swift arrest of the perpetrators. 

“Special joint teams have been formed to probe every angle of the killings,” said a police spokesperson.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also took notice, ordering the inspector-general of police to arrest the culprits without delay.

“The murderers of transgender persons must be caught at all costs,” the CM said, stressing that the state would not tolerate violence against oppressed communities.

Karachi’s Deputy Mayor Salman Abdullah Murad termed the murders “shocking” and demanded the harshest punishment for those involved.

Rights groups and activists have long raised alarm over the growing violence against Pakistan’s transgender community. “When hate speech is allowed to spread unchecked, tragedies like this become unavoidable,” said Shahzadi Rai, a transgender councillor and activist.

A recent report by Blue Veins and the National Commission on Human Rights found widespread social exclusion of transgender persons in Pakistan, citing family rejection, workplace discrimination, and physical violence as recurring challenges.

The killings in Karachi follow a disturbing pattern: in July, transgender individuals were murdered in Malakand and Peshawar, while last year two were stabbed to death in Mardan.