An unidentified group of gunmen fatally shot a transgender woman in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar,
police said on Wednesday.

Officials said
that the shooting occurred late on Tuesday in the Palosi neighbourhood on outskirts
of Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, reported AFP.

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 “A group of four transgender (women) were
returning home after performing at a wedding function when unidentified gunmen
opened fire on their vehicle, killing Gul Panra on the spot,” Hassan Jehangir
Wattoo, a senior police official in Peshawar said.

Two other
passengers sustained injuries in the shooting, Watto added.

Another police
official, Muslim Khan, confirmed the incident and said that four individuals
were held in connection with the shooting.

“We are
unable to confirm the number of attackers and their identities at the moment as
it will hamper the ongoing investigation,” Khan said.

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Violence
against the transgender community, known as ‘khawajasiras’ or ‘hijras’, are
very common in Pakistan, where they have largely been ostricised by society and
are often victims of beatings and rape.

Those who are
unable to earn a living as dancers often have to resort to a life of begging or
sex work. In Pakistan, where it is considered un-Islamic for women to dance in
front of men, they have traditionally been called upon for rituals such as blessing
a newborn or to bring life to a party or a wedding.

Pakistan
became one of the first countries in the world to legally recognise a third gender
in 2009 and began issuing transgender passports from 2017.