THE physical and verbal assaults suffered by the transgender community must be stopped as the group is entitled to the same fundamental liberties of other citizens of the country.

In a joint statement today, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh and Lim Kit Siang’s political secretary Syahredzan Johan condemned the recent attack of a transgender woman by a group of men in Negeri Sembilan.

 “We refer to the media reports regarding the transgender woman who was attacked by a group of men in Negiri Sembilan. We have visited the victim and spoken to her on August 19, 2018 at Hospital Tuanku Jaafar in Seremban.

“We were horrified to discover that the victim was physically assaulted by a group of eight men at around 11pm in Sungai Ujong, Seremban. The men surrounded her, and it is believed that she was attacked because of the prejudice against her gender identity, the fact that she is a transgender woman,” they said.

It was reported that the victim suffered internal injuries, several broken ribs as well as injuries to her back and head, and required 12 stitches. She was in the hospita for several days

Yeoh and Syahredzan stressed that the transgender community had long been the target of assault and harassment in the country.

They said in most cases, the perpetrators of the crimes were not brought to justice, either because of fear of repercussions on the part of the victims or because the authorities were reluctant to take further action.

“Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. In some cases the victims suffer injuries and tragically, even death.

“We believe that the wanton disregard for the lives of the transgender community is the result of the constant demonisation of the community by certain quarters.

“We condemn in the strongest terms any hate speech directed at the community. The physical and verbal assaults suffered by transgender community must be stopped,” they said.

Seremban district deputy police chief Superintendent Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman confirmed that one person was arrested for assaulting a 32-year-old transgender woman with a weapon, and was in remand for five days.– August 19, 2018.