Peshawar police on Saturday recovered the body of a transgender person, who had reportedly been murdered three days ago, police officials informed DawnNews.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sajjad Khan said that the body of a brutally tortured transgender person was recovered from Ashiqabad area near Warsak Road in Peshawar.

The corpse, the SSP claimed, was three days old and bore signs of torture. He further said that the police have not been able to identify the body so far, though fingerprints and DNA samples have been collected.

The police had asked the local transgender community if they could identify the body, however, none of them was able to recognise the deceased. The head of transgender association, Laila Khan, said that the slain was not from Peshawar.

A case has been registered by the police against unidentified persons.

More than 50 transgender persons were killed in 2015 and 2016, according to TransAction President Farzana — a rights organisation in Peshawar.

The status of the transgender community, also known as khawajasiras, is opaque in the country, to say the least.

They number at least half a million in the country, and according to several studies — up to two million, says TransAction.