Teens Confess Involvement In Klang Transgender Woman's Murder Who Was Beaten To Death
Police have so far arrested four suspects in the case and are looking for one more.
By Sadho Ram — 15 Dec 2018, 08:08 PM
Four suspects have been arrested for their involvement in the brutal murder of a 32-year-old transgender woman in Klang, who was beaten to death by a group of men on the night of 12 December
All four, of whom three are aged 16, 17, and 19, have confessed their involvement in the case with another man whom the police are currently tracking down.
The Star Online reported that police on the night of 13 December first arrested a 19-year-old male suspect and about five hours later, they arrested a 21-year-old man.
They arrested another two boys, aged 16 and 17, on Friday evening, the English daily reported South Klang police chief ACP Shamsul Amar Ramli as saying.
All four suspects have been remanded for six days
While two suspects, aged 19 and 21, were remanded on Thursday, 13 December, the other two suspects, aged 16 and 17, were remanded today, 15 December.
Speaking about the motive behind the murder, ACP Shamsul said that investigations revealed it was theft and was not a hate crime
"One of the suspects had claimed the woman had allegedly stolen his Huawei Nuova 2i mobile phone while servicing him in November.
"The motive of the case is strictly on the alleged theft committed and not hate crimes against LGBT," he was quoted as saying by Malay Mail today, 15 December.
While police have ruled out hate crime in the case, the victim's post-mortem report tells another story, according to which, she had 32 groups of injuries inflicted upon her.
The 32-year-old Transgender woman from Sabah suffered a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain after she was brutalised by several men wielding blunt weapons in Klang.
However, Transgender rights activist Nisha Ayub, who shared the news about the teens arrest and confession, called it a hate crime
"In Malaysia, hate crimes against Transgender people exist.
"This is all the result of the effort of some - religious groups, agencies, politicians, preachers, local education bodies, leaders, mainstream media, that have constantly imposed that Transgender people are not a part of the society and we are deviants that need to be corrected," Nisha wrote in her Facebook post.
"It's because of these people that we Transgender people have to live our daily life in fear that we might become another victim of a bully, victim of being beaten, a victim of being raped or molested, a victim of being KILLED OR MURDERED."
