Police in Pakistan say they have found the bodies of three transgender people on a roadside in the southern city of Karachi, in the latest violence against the community.

They were shot dead by unidentified assailants, with their bodies discovered shortly after midnight on Sunday in the Memon Goth area of Karachi, according to police.

The bullet-riddled bodies of three transgender women were found on a highway, city police official Javed Ahmed Abro told the AFP news agency.

Authorities are still in the process of confirming their identities and have yet to determine a motive.

Amnesty International reports a concerning rise in violence against trans people, also known as Hijras, in Pakistan.

Transgender persons are a vulnerable segment of society, and we must all give them dignity and respect, Sindh's provincial chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said in a statement.

In 2018, Pakistan's Senate voted in favor of a bill protecting the rights of transgender people, allowing them to determine their own gender identity. Although the Transgender Rights Act was initially praised, key sections were later revoked by a sharia court.

Estimates suggest there are approximately half a million transgender citizens in the country, who continue to face social exclusion and abuse. A 2023 report in The Lancet journal noted that 90% of transgender individuals in Pakistan report experiencing physical assaults.

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