Dandara dos Santos, 42, was dragged from her home into the street and kicked, punched, and hit with a plank of wood

A transgender woman was brutally beaten to death by a group of thugs who dragged her from her home and attacked her in a sickening transphobic attack.

Dandara dos Santos, 42, was dragged from her home into the street and kicked, punched, and hit with shoes and a plank of wood in front of residents in Fortaleza, Ceara state, Brazil.

Harrowing footage of the attack shows Dandara begging the savage attackers to spare her life, but her pleas fall on deaf ears.

As she lies on the ground covered in blood and struggling to stand, her callous attackers simply lift her into a wheelbarrow and roll her away to a back alley where she was beaten to death amid cheers and laughter.

The person who filmed the clip is heard saying in Portuguese 'they will kill the f*****' and laughing while the attackers make cruel taunts about her hormone-therapy induced breasts and hurl homophobic insults.

Horrific footage of the incident sparked outrage after being released by police last Friday to help find the alleged killers.

Police Inspector Damasceno who is investigating the death said: 'Six people have been identified and the video has helped with that. The footage was first circulated among LGBT groups, which helped that process.

'The police began circulating the clip and we arrived at the house of two of the people identified but they fled. The investigation is already well advanced and we are going after the killers.'

The attack on February 15 is one of the latest in a sickening trend in Brazil for targeting transsexuals and transvestites.

Harrowing footage of the attack shows Dandara begging the savage attackers to spare her life, but they lift her into a wheelbarrow and roll her to a back alley where she was beaten to death

According to Brazil's Trans Network, Dandara was the fifth to be murdered last month.

The government of Ceará released a statement condemning the killing warning that attackers will be punished.

They said: 'The Government of Ceara hereby expresses its deepest condemnation of acts of violence and intolerance as what was practiced against Dandara dos Santos, killed by brutal beating.

'It should be informed that the entire structure of the State Public Security is mobilized for the investigation of the crime and will punish those responsible.

'This government believes in and supports, through a human rights framework linked to the Office of the Governor and current public policies that pluralism, diversity and tolerance are fundamental values for democracy.

'These are inalienable pillars of an inclusive and just society. The Special Coordinator of Public Policies for the State of Ceará LGBT has among its tasks the execution of service policies and affirmation of gender minorities, as well as the effective contribution to the debate on all issues relating to the LGBT population.

'In line with the precepts of individual freedoms and human rights, we reaffirm our option for human life.'