Struggling to survive in lockdown transgender kills self

A 38-year-old HIV-positive transgender committed suicide by hanging herself near a school on Monday in Malvani area of suburban Malad, apparently due to the loss of livelihood and unavailability of medicine amidst the coronavirus-induced lockdown, police said.

The transgender was struggling to make both ends meet and had exhausted stock of grocery and food due to the lockdown, as she had lost her source of livelihood, an official said. Another trigger was unavailability of medicine for her medical condition, the official said.

The transgender was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her residence by her neighbours who rushed her to a civic- run hospital where she was declared dead before arrival, he said. No suicide note was found at the spot of the incident, the official said. Though asphyxiation seems to be the cause of death, police are awaiting postmortem report, he added.