MUMBAI - The only
transgender candidate in state elections in southern India has
gone missing, police said on Wednesday, with fears that she was
kidnapped on her second day of campaigning.
Chandramukhi Muvvala disappeared minutes after she left her
one-room home on Tuesday morning in an informal settlement in
Hyderabad, capital of Telangana state, city police said.
"We have registered a complaint of missing person. We are
trying to trace her," Kanneboina Uday, investigating officer in
the case told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Wednesday.
Muvvala is an activist with the Telangana Hijra Intersex
Transgender Samiti, a local advocacy group for hijras - or
transgender women - which campaigns against transphobic
violence.
India has about 2 million transgender people, according to
the 2011 census. Although the Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that
transgender people have equal rights under the law, they are
often shunned and many survive through begging or sex work.
"We are very worried about her safety," Bittu Karthik, a
member of Telangana Hijra Intersex Transgender Samiti, told the
Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"There is disproportionate amount of violence against
transgender people and as an electoral candidate, we fear
physical violence can be used."
The police said they have deployed special teams to trace
Muvvala after a local court ordered them on Wednesday to produce
her in court by Thursday morning.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, a New Delhi-based
advocacy group, said it was worried about speculation that
Muvvala had been kidnapped.
"If fears of Chandramukhi's kidnapping are well-founded,
this is a serious attack on the right of Indian citizens to
safety and security, as well as the welfare of the already
fragile transgender community," it said.
"The manner in which this case is handled will either serve
to strengthen or weaken the trust the Indian LGBTQ+ community
has in the state."
Telangana's state elections are due to be held on December 7.