TDoR 2021 / 2021 / March / 01 / Dolphin


Dolphin


1 Mar 2021
Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan)
Shot

Dolphin
Dolphin [photo: www.facebook.com]

Dolphin was murdered by her own brother while visting her hometown. She had fled to Swabi to escape her non-accepting

Born to a conservative family in the small village of Merozai in the Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dolphin had spent some eighteen summers of her life living as [deadname], the withdrawn but still conforming son of Waheed Ahmed.

Farhan’s family, which had been seeing his transformation from afar, could never be the one to come to terms with it. Over the years, their disapprovals grew bolder and fiercer. Confrontations became more violent and soon, the youth was left with no option but to flee for [her] life.

The mask of [deadname] was left and put to rest in Merozai. What came to Swabi was a self-accepting transgender woman who would soon come to be known as Dolphin. Here, she’d find the opportunity to express herself in the way she’d always seen fit. She’d find a community and the many liberties she could never imagine having in her stifling hometown of Kohat. No one knew Farhan Ahmed here. It was just Dolphin and she was free to live her life. However, even when fleeing home, young Dolphin knew the ire of her blood would one day hound her down. Which is why all her visits to Kohat were carried out in great secrecy. Out of the same fear, she would stay at a relative’s house instead of her own and make all efforts to stay off of her immediate family’s radar.

Things took a turn for the grave on March 1, when information of Dolphin’s visit to Kohat was somehow leaked to her family. Soon, her body was discovered from a dump in an area known locally as Mirzai. She had been murdered in cold blood just a few hours after arriving in her hometown. A First Information Report was lodged with the Kohat Police for Dolphin’s murder, upon request of her father Waheed Ahmed.

“At first, we had nothing which offered any explanation of the youth’s mysterious murder. But later, investigations revealed that [Dophin]’s family was strictly against [her] identifying as a transgender person. The most irked of kin would be [her] brother, who found [Dolphin] attending local dance parties in the guise of a woman, a jab to his own self-respect,” told Kohat District Police Officer Sohail Khalid.

Upon suspicion, Dolphin’s brother Rehman was soon booked for questioning. The accused confessed shooting Dolphin out of spite, during preliminary interrogation. Following which, the murder weapon was recovered and taken into police custody. “I was hurt. The embarrassment of my brother choosing to turn into a Khwaja Sira was too much,” Rehman told the police.

[Editor's Note: Dolphin's murder was not included on the TDoR 2021 memorial list released by Transgender Europe (TGEU) in November 2021]

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2290045/the-price-she-paid-was-death

https://www.facebook.com/etribune/posts/4719113394772316

https://www.facebook.com/minervatahir/posts/2547558862057020

https://www.facebook.com/Zeeshan-Dancer-Swabi-Official-110395003849878/photos/281312930091417

Report added: 14 Nov 2021

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