Another transgender killed in Klang over alleged phone theft

KLANG: Less than a month after the murder of a transgender woman in Klang, another member of the community has been found dead.

Just like the first victim, this transgender woman was also a Sabahan, and is similarly believed to have lost her life over the alleged theft of a cell phone.

South Klang OCPD Asst Comm Shamsul Amar Ramli said police received a call at about 3.43pm on Jan 1 from a medical assistant at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah that the remains of a woman had been sent there.

They were told that the woman, whose race couldn’t be ascertained, could have been thrown out of a vehicle on Jalan Batu Nilam, in Bukit Tinggi 2.

The victim was confirmed dead by the ambulance personnel sent to the scene of the incident to rescue her.

“A check on the victim’s handbag did not yield any identification documents," said ACP Shamsul Amar.

He said forensic examination later revealed that the victim was a transgender woman.

“The victim suffered injuries in both knees, on the left ankle, left eyebrow and to the nose, suspected to have been caused by falling out of a vehicle," he added.

Further investigation revealed the woman to be 37-years-old and with three drug-related police cases.

A 55-year-old man has been arrested and remanded for seven days to assist with the investigations.

According to initial investigations, the suspect accused the victim of having stolen his Oppo his cell phone. He confronted the victim, who denied his accusation.

She then allegedly jumped off the multi-purpose vehicle while it was still moving.

ACP Shamsul Amar stressed that the incident was not a hate crime against the transgender community.

In last month’s incident, a 32-year-old transgender woman from Sabah was severely beaten up by several youths who believed she had stolen a cell phone.