Transgender woman, friend shot dead in Pakistan

The victims were travelling in a rickshaw when they were targeted by two assailants riding on a motorcycle.

Gunmen have shot and killed a transgender woman and her friend in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

Pakistan became one of the first countries in the world to legally recognise a third sex in 2009, allowing transgender people to obtain identity cards. (Representational Photo)

The victims were travelling in a rickshaw when they were targeted by two assailants riding on a motorcycle on Friday, police said, adding that multiple shot were fired at them.

The bodies were shifted to Khyber Medical College for autopsies and the police have launched an investigation into the matter, police said.

However, no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan became one of the first countries in the world to legally recognise a third sex in 2009, allowing transgender people to obtain identity cards.

More than 50 transgender people were killed during 2015 and 2016, trans action president Farzana had claimed earlier.