Fact-check: Police ban transgenders in Quetta from public places post-midnight
Three police officials in Quetta confirmed that the transgender community has indeed been restricted from visiting certain areas late at night
Updated Wednesday Mar 08 2023
Multiple online posts claim that the police in Quetta have barred the transgender community from being out in public after midnight.
The claim is accurate.
Claim
On March 1, Diva Magazine shared a post on Instagram alleging that a police officer had said that the trans community in Quetta, Balochistan, have been restricted from being out in public after midnight.
“SHO (the Station House Officer) at Civil Lines Quetta Mittha Khan has claimed that in order to protect the members of the transgender community,” the post read, “They won't be allowed to leave their homes after 12:00 a.m., and anyone found disregarding the rules will be facing legal action.”
The post has been liked over 5,000 times, to date.
Similar posts were also shared on Twitter. One tweet read: “In an absurd move, the Civil Lines Police Station in Quetta, Balochistan, has barred transgender individuals from leaving their homes after midnight.”
Fact
Three police officials in Quetta confirmed that the transgender community in the city has indeed been restricted from visiting certain public areas post-midnight.
Rizwan Ali, a police official at the Quetta civil lines police station, told Geo Fact Check, over the phone, that a restriction has been imposed.
“Our senior [police] officials reviewed the situation,” he said, “They have ordered the transgenders [community] not to leave their homes after midnight. It is to prevent obscenity from spreading in the city”.
This was also confirmed by another cop, Saeed Muhammad, at the civil lines police station.
Geo Fact Check also contacted the Station House Officer (SHO) Mittha Khan at the Civil Lines police station. “This [news] is true,” he said, over the phone.
“Our young population is being ruined,” he claimed, “They [transgenders] stand on roads and spread obscenity.”
As per details, the transgender community has been barred from the following areas after 12am, namely Jinnah road, Koila roundabout, and the railway station in the city.
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