Cops lodge FIR after assault on 5 LGBTQI activists
Times of India | 12 February 2025
123 Kolkata: An FIR was lodged after members of Sappho for Equality alleged that five of them were attacked at a Jodhpur Park departmental store close to their queer café, Porshi. Many condemned the incident on social media, describing it as yet another homophobic attack.
The Lake Police, which responded to the call by sending a force led by an additional OC, said the incident was a result of an argument between a woman and a transman. "While a case was registered against the accused woman, she herself said she wanted to lodge a counter FIR. However, till late evening, she did not turn up. Going by the law, we are issuing legal notices to the accused to face questioning," said acop.
Debalina, a member of Sappho for Equality, told TOI that five members were physically assaulted and verbally abused with transphobic and homophobic slurs by local residents near Porshi. She said the incident happened on Tuesday morning when a transman, Sayan Sheikh, working at Porshi, had a verbal dispute with a local woman over queue-jumping at the departmental store. "The altercation escalated from verbal abuse to physical violence when the woman called her acquaintances," Debalina said.
Soon, four other Sappho members — Ankana Dey, Koyel Ghosh, and Redan Khan — arrived at the store, hearing of the abuse. "After dialling 100, I was directed to contact Lake police station. Before the police arrived, five Sappho members, including two transmasculine and two non-binary individuals, were physically attacked. I was sexually abused too and was groped by a mob. A cop nearby refused to help when we approached," said Ankana.
Cops dismissed the claims against them as baseless, saying they intervened verbally to stop the arguments and no physical touching was involved.