TRANSSEXUAL GANG KIDNAPPING BOYS FOR FLESH TRADE

BY P.VIJIAN

CHENNAI, April 6 (Bernama) -- Police in Tamil Nadu are working on a theory that a transsexual gang operating in south India is luring young boys and forcing them to undergo sex change operation and later engage them in prostitution.

Although initial details are sketchy, police in Chennai said two such cases
had surfaced recently, after a retired doctor was arrested in Kadapa in Andra
Pradesh Saturday, making them believe a transgender gang is behind the heinous
crime.

"We arrested the doctor from Kadapa and he admitted of helping the
transsexual group. He has done 40 to 50 operations on boys to change their sex.

"We are also working on this angle, of a transgender gang involved in luring
young boys and forcing them to change their sex and later lure them into
prostitution to earn money," Chennai deputy inspector-general of police (crime
investigation division) S.N. Seshasai told Bernama Sunday.

On Friday, Chennai police arrested the 75-year-old doctor, wanted for
castrating a 16-year-old by from Tamil Nadu last year, suspected to be under the
order of the gang who later kidnapped the minor to Pune, where he was abused to
beg and work as a prostitute.

"The doctor had been doing this (surgery) for 17 years since he retired.
He
said he does about two to three surgeries on boys every year. He removes their
male organs and turn them into a female. He is on remand now," added Seshasai.

The 16-year-old victim, who managed to escape from Pune and returned to his
family, is currently undergoing medical treatment.

An estimated 30,000 transgender persons live in Tamil Nadu and there are
more than half a million of them across India.

-- BERNAMA