PHOTO: ALLISON JOYCE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
The most sought-after transgender crime fighter in Bangladesh has been discovered.
After three days of searching, 21-year-old Labannya Hijra agreed on Thursday to tell her story publicly for the first time, according to the New York Times.
Labannya, who takes her last name from the South Asian term for biological males who identify as women, nabbed two suspects in the killing of a blogger.
Washiqur Rahman, 27, was hacked to death in Dhaka, just weeks after an American aethist blogger was also hacked to death in Dhaka.
Read: Another blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh: police
“It appeared Rahman used to write using a penname Kutshit Hasher Chhana (Ugly Duckling),” Imran Sarker, head of Blogger and Online Activists Network in Bangladesh, earlier told AFP.
“He was a progressive free thinker and was against religious fundamentalism,” he said.
Labannya grabbed the T-shirts of the fleeing men, who were students. As they struggled in her grasp, a machete fell out of one man’s bag and clattered to the ground. One of the men whacked at her hand and shouted at her to let him go, and she yelled back, “Shut up!”
“We in the hijra community, we don’t want any terrorist activity in this society,” she said. “We want an environment where each and every person, including hijras, can move around the city safely.”
Labannya’s bravery is rare and surprising as people do not intervene during crime scenes.
Read: American-Bangladeshi blogger hacked to death in Dhaka
The Dhaka Tribune reported that locals were reluctant to chase Rhaman’s killers. However, Labannya said she caught two of the men as they ran past her, pursued by police officers and civilians. When the police caught up to her, they arrested the men.
At first, the 21-year-old hesitated to come forward, fearing the killers’ associates would remember her face. However, over the next few days she began to notice even without identifying herself, she was getting an unusual degree of respect.
“Some people, when they see me, they say, ‘You did a fantastic job, you grabbed the terrorists,’ ” she said. “So there is some new appreciation of our hijra community.”
Read: Blogger’s murder: Dhaka arrests chief suspect
Responding to a question whether she would appear in person to accept congratulations from the police who said they would like to give her an award for bravery, she said, “Yes, I can expect to receive an award.”
“I grabbed two terrorists,” she added.
Labannya left home at 9 year of age in the company of an older transgender woman. She makes a living by asking shopkeepers for small sums of money and creating a noisy racket on the street outside if they refuse. The business model depends heavily on the belief that hijras have the power to invoke curses.
“We don’t have a normal life; we are not normal human beings,” she said. “Sometimes I hate myself when I think I am a hijra.”
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