Sampoorna, a network of transgender and intersex Indians, on Thursday, organized an online campaign to urge Hyderabad Police to take action against Venkat Yadav, a man accused of assaulting trans women in the city since 2012. Venkat Yadav is also accused of murdering a trans woman and he was granted bail after spending eight months in jail.
The group urged social media users to participate in a Twitter storm with the hashtag #ArrestVenkat. A Twitter storm is a spike in activity around a certain topic.
“Since 2012 Venkat Yadav has been assaulting trans women across the city of Hyderabad,” the group tweeted. “Several FIRs against him went unheeded till he murdered a trans woman, Pravallika in Jan [January] 2015. He is out on bail.”
The online campaign is in the aftermath of a protest by transgender people on September 30 outside the Banjara Hills police station in Hyderabad demanding Yadav’s arrest. The protestors also accused him of harassing the transgender community for years by indulging in extortion.
According to the police, a group led by Yadav lynched Pravallika, a trans woman, in January 2015. “An FIR was registered on the same day and Venkat Yadav was arrested by February,” the protestors said in their statement. “However, he was granted conditional bail in October.”
The protestors alleged that after Yadav came out on bail, he threatened the complainants and their family members, and intimidated them into withdrawing the cases against him.
According to The Hans India, Yadav and his associates have allegedly sexually assaulted, raped, attacked and extorted transgender people in Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda.
“Come on people join the Twitter storm. Amplify voices of justice for crimes against trans women who don’t have the privilege of individuating themselves as #metoo
Trans women are never names. Never people. Just the other. Just statistics. Often not even that.#ArrestVenkat” Sampoorna tweeted. They said that even thoNovembermber 20 is observed as Trans Day of Remembrance. Every year, the list of trans persons lost to hate and violence grows. But there’s no justice. They wonder whether Hyderabad city police will take any action.
Venkat Yadav is known for assaulting/murdering trans women. He's out on bail now, perpetrating the same crimes he was convicted for. We demand that his bail be canceled! #ArrestVenkat#TransLivesMatter@CPHydCity @TelanganaDGP @IGWomenSafety @CPRODGPTS @hydcitypolice @KTRTRS
— Sampoorna (@SampoornaIndia) October 11, 2018
