The transgender applicants were the children of mechanics and rickshaw pullers. Some were in the midst of transitioning. Others had suffered grisly abuse. One said she had been gang-raped by men who locked her in an abandoned building. Another, Soniya Janghel, 22, said she was pushed into sex work as a teenager.

“We face constant threats to our lives,” she said. “People have put knives to my throat. I have jumped from moving cars.”

Trusting the police was another leap. Security forces have perpetuated horrific crimes against transgender Indians, including torturing them in custody.

The recruits were also essentially stepping into a war zone. For decades, the Indian state has clashed with separatist Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh’s forests. Before the recruitment drive was announced, insurgents launched their deadliest attack in years, killing at least 25 officers.

Still, the recruits were hopeful.

“If we are together, what is there to fear?” asked Ms. Sori, who works in a sari shop and lives in a slum. “Everybody will say, ‘She is Rakesh’s mummy, the mummy of a policewoman,’” she said, imagining how her mother would be treated after she became an officer.

Before the running test last May, several recruits cried from anxiety at Raipur’s police grounds. Officials cheered as the group sprinted. At the finish line, Ms. Janghel collapsed. Ten of the 11 Raipur recruits ran fast enough to advance to the written exam.

In June, the group left their jobs as cooks and domestic servants, and moved out of their homes and into a government hostel on the outskirts of Raipur, where they received free food and lodging. Ms. Rajput, the activist, joined them.