Trans activists in India have alleged that trans people are being denied access to burial grouns.

‘We have been discriminated for long enough,’Rachana Mudraboyina told Telangana Today.

‘There is even discrimination in death as transgenders are not allowed to use mainstream burial grounds. It is really disheartening to live in a society where we are treated like some sort of non-human species.’

Rachana said a trans person they knew was denied their last rites according to their faith.

‘We have invited the people concerned of the religion to come and perform their rituals, but they refused because the person who passed away was a transgender,’ Rachana said.

Discrimination in death

Activists in Hyderabad have called on authorities to ‘please stop treating us like aliens’ and allow them to buried traditionally.

‘There have been quite a few cases that have surfaced where transgender people faced trouble over entry for burial in graveyards,’ said Madhav, a LGBTI activist.

‘Most of them finally resorted to burying the body outside the graveyard or to conducting the rites late in the night by paying extra money to the cemetery caretaker.’

G Krishna of Suraksha Society said they go to extreme lengths to ensure trans people get the burial they deserve.

‘There is a separate burial ground for the Hijra (trans women) community that belong to the Haveli built for them during the Nizam period, but there is no such provision for other transgenders in the city,’ Krishna said.

‘Sometimes we are forced to dress up a transgender as a man and fake their identity to get access into burial grounds. There is an immediate need to fight against this discrimination.’