Transgender activist Alesha’s death triggered uproar in Peshawar, particularly among people of the transgender community and social activists.
The deceased body lay on a ‘charpoy’ (bed) surrounded by incense sticks and roses. Those who knew her had no other way to express their grief but to cry their hearts out.
Alesha was shot eight times earlier this week succumbed to her wounds at Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Wednesday.
Read more: Transgender Alesha succumbs to injuries at Peshawar hospital
When she was alive, Alesha would ask her family members to bury her in a graveyard that they could easily visit to offer a prayer. She knew that the society she grew up in had serious reservations against people who were transgender and did not approve of them frequenting public places, including the hospital where she breathed her last.
“I’m her mother and I will keep her promise by burying her in a graveyard where I can easily find her for offering a prayer,” said Alesha’s foster mother Farzana.
Alesha’s funeral is billed as the first-ever public funeral for a person who is a transgender in the city.
“The people who invite us to partake in their celebrations should [now] not hesitate in participating in [the] funeral prayers [of one of our own],” Farzana said.
The funeral was held at the residence of a social activist. Security was arranged at the time of the prayers in the evening.
However, scholars were already consulted by the prayer leader on whether the prayer should be offered or not.
He said Alesha was a Muslim and there was no harm in offering her funeral prayers.
“If we can offer the prayers of murderers and anti-social elements, why can we not offer a prayer for a person who was transgender,” he said.
“I feel like Alesha had to leave this world to bring a change and raise a voice against injustice,” said Farzana, who is also the president of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Shemale Association.
Awami National Party (ANP) Central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain also attended the final rites.
Alesha was bid a final goodbye and laid to rest in Rehman Baba Graveyard, in Durrani Pur area on the outskirts of the city.
