Pakistani trans-gender activist known as Alesha was shot eight times in Peshawar on the 25th of May 2016 during an altercation between a group of men and several trans-gender people.

The cause of the dispute was not immediately clear, but it is well known that Pakistani transgender people, many of whom are poor and work as dancers or in the sex trade, are frequently victims of violence and extortion, receiving little protection from the authorities.

Alesha had worked as a coordinator for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Trans Action Alliance, an advocacy organisation in Pakistan’s north-western province, and was the fifth member of the group to be attacked in the first six months of 2016.

The group claims that it is being targeted by an organised criminal gang, which extorts money from the trans-gender community and has even forced members to make pornographic films.

Trans-gender women, known as hijas, are considered good luck in Pakistan and often paid to dance and perform at weddings, but also face discrimination and violence in the conservative Muslim country.