Telangana: Chandramukhi Muvvala, transgender candidate missing one day before campaigning

Chandramukhi Muvvala, a transgender activist, who is contesting the MLA elections as a candidate of BLF (Bahujan Left Front) in Goshamahal constituency, has been missing since Tuesday, November 27. She was contesting in the December 7 Assembly polls in Telangana. She is up against senior Congress leader Mukhesh Goud and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s T Raja Singh.

According to a statement from the Telangana Hijra Trans Samiti, she had gone missing from her home early in the morning and those with her couldn’t locate her for the entire day. An FIR has been lodged at the Banjara Hills Police Station near her house. Some fear that she has been kidnapped.

She had strongly protested against violence which was meted out on members of the transgender and hijra communities as an activist with the Telangana Hijra Intersex Transgender Samiti. She raised her voice against such acts of violence at many public events and rallies held to uphold the the respect of transgender people. Her decision to contest was also a decision that she felt would help the entire community.

“We fear for her safety and condemn the lack of safety measures organized for her and for other women and transgender candidates, which acts as a strong force that dissuades transgender persons and women from joining politics. Chandramukhi's campaign kicked off just one day before she went missing,” said a press release by the Telangana Hijra Trans Samiti.

The police said Muvvala was reported missing from her home in Banjara Hills. She got a call on her mobile phone at 8.17 am on Tuesday when she was somewhere in Yaramanzil Colony. Her phone has been switched off since, the police said.

Her mother, Anitha Muvvala, told The News Minute that she last spoke to her daughter between 8 pm and 9 pm on Monday. “We talked about how the campaign was going and she told me she was happy with the way things were progressing,” Anitha Muvvala said.

The Telangana Hijra Trans Samiti, an association of transgender people, has condemned the lack of safety measures for women and transgender candidates “which acts as a strong force that dissuades transgender persons and women from joining politics”. The group said in a press statement that Muvvala had started campaigning just a day before she went missing.

The press statement demanded that the police should take immediate action to locate her.

Chandramukhi is the first and the only transgender candidate out of 3,584 candidates contesting in the upcoming Telangana elections