Bengaluru: Kin of murdered man says he dressed up as transgender for extra income

BENGALURU: Family members of a youth killed allegedly by transgenders, who feared he was their rival and eating into their earnings from begging, said there are youngsters in the city who dress up as sexual minorities to earn extra money.


Rajendra Kumar, 32, was kidnapped and murdered allegedly by a gang of

transgenders last week

. Appaji Gowda, brother-in-law of the murdered youth, said Kumar was not a transgender and he along with friends had formed a team to beg at junctions; he dressed up like a transgender while begging.

“Kumar lost his parents a few years ago. He was alone at his house in Kalegowdana Doddi village near Ramanagara. He was a tailor and worked with a group of youngsters in a shop. He hardly earned Rs 10,000 per month and was in search of alternatives to make more money. Someone gave him this idea of begging in the guise of a transgender. We came to know that Kumar had started dressing up as a transgender at night for the last 15 days and was begging at Nice Road junction near

Electronics City

,” Gowda said.

He claimed Kumar was part of a gang of likeminded people. “Police arrested the accused trio swiftly. We need them to find Kumar’s friends, who are also feigning as transgenders to earn extra income,” he said.

Electronics City police, who cracked the case, confirmed Kumar was not a transgender. They said they are investigating the family’s claims.

The accused, Devi alias Ashok Kumar, 26,

Nithya

alias Ramakrishna, 24, and Bhavana alias Abdul, 31, from

Konappana Agrahara

were angry with Kumar who begged at Nice Road junction, which they claimed was their territory.

“They had warned Kumar a week prior to the murder. On August 14 night, they learnt about a truck driver giving money to a transgender. They rushed there and found Kumar. They kidnapped him and took him to their house. When they learnt he was a man, clad in sari and wearing a wig, they beat him to death,” an officer said. The trio is part of a 15-member group. Each of them earns Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per day.

“They dumped Kumar’s body near NICE Road and called Kumar’s family saying a truck had rammed him. However, postmortem reports revealed he had been brutally assaulted. We detained the accused who confessed to the crime,” police said.

Transgenders took Kumar’s body to his village

The accused trio and eight other transgenders took Kumar’s body to his village near Ramangara. “We were shocked to know about Kumar’s death. Around 11 transgenders brought his body in an ambulance. They gave us different versions about his death. So, we had doubts and informed Ramanagara Rural police. They alerted Electronics City cops,” Gowda said.