A transwoman activist, Chandramukhi Muvvala (32), contesting Telanaga assembly elections on a CPI(M)-led Bahujan Left Front or BLF ticket from the Goshamahal constituency in Old Hyderabad, went missing from her home on Tuesday.
A press release issued by a coalition, the Telangana Hijra Intersex Transgender Samiti, said Chandramukhi was untraceable all day and was feared to have been kidnapped.
“We fear for her safety and condemn the lack of safety measures organised 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,” the press release stated.
A missing person complaint has been filed at the Banjara Hills police station. The FIR stated that her phone was switched off after she met her mother on Monday night. Her lawyer, MA Shakeel, reportedly said he will file a petition in the Hyderabad high court on Wednesday.
As an activist with ‘Telangana Hijra Intersex Transgender Samiti’, Chandramukhi had reportedly raised her voice against atrocities upon members of her community and had always firmly voiced her opinions at rallies and public meetings, upholding the self-respect of transgenders. Her decision to contest the elections was also a decision that she felt would help the entire community, her followers confirmed, demanding that police act immediately to trace her.
Muvvala is the first and only transgender woman to contest in Telangana Assembly elections. She is contesting against the incumbent BJP MLA T Raja Singh, Mukesh Goud from Congress and Prem Singh Rathore from Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Meanwhile, the candidate of the Samajwadi Forward Bloc contesting from Gajwel constituency, K Dinesh Chakravarthy had also gone missing on November 22 soon after filing the nomination. He was, however, traced and produced before the Hyderabad high court on November 27.
Amidst the Telangana assembly election pressure, it was earlier reported how Congress candidate for Gajwel assembly constituency, Vanteru Pratap Reddy allegedly made a futile self-immolation attempt to prevent the police from conducting a search in his house at Kompally, on alleged charges of distributing money to buy votes. He had attacked the TRS government for trying to intimidate him ahead of Telangana elections.
Telangana constituency, presently represented by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) goes into polls on December 7. Results would be declared on December 11 along with the results of the other poll-bound states, namely Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
