Trans Woman Faces Discrimination In Pune, Allegedly Denied Entry To Mall Due To Her Gender

On Friday, a video showing transgender woman Sonal Dalvi being allegedly denied entry to Phoenix Market City went viral. She had visited the mall with her friend Manoj Boikar to shop on Thursday.?

Citing discrimination, Dalvi has decided to file a case against the facility. The management of the mall accepted that the incident did take place but also claimed that Dalvi was later allowed to go inside.?

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According to Dalvi, while entering the mall from gate 5, the security officials stopped her and refused her to go inside as per policy rules. When she asked them why, she was told that since she was a trans woman, she can't be allowed to enter.?

Dalvi said, “This is not the first time that I visited this mall. We have even held events here. But this time the security officials were adamant and refused to let me in. When I inquired what the problem was, they said that trans women were not allowed inside the mall as per policy. When I demanded that they should show the policy document to me, they called their senior officers, who also couldn’t come up with anything in writing. But despite this they made me wait at the gate for almost an hour," reports Mumbai Mirror.?

Her friend Boilkar who accompanied her and also filmed the incident, said, “Like in every mall, there were queues for security checks. While I entered the male section, Sonali went to the female section. They checked and allowed me in. But the lady at Sonali’s gate refused to check her and denied her entry. They made Sonali exit the gate and made us wait there. We tried asking them what the problem was, and when they claimed that she will not be allowed since she is a transgender, I decided to shoot the entire thing on my mobile phone.”

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The video is now being widely shared by the members of the LGBT community. Dalvi added, “Not only did they discriminate, they also made allegations like we trans women beg at signals and roads. I have decided not to tolerate this and consulted my lawyer about filing a police complaint.”

In a statement, the mall said,

“This incident took place last evening and we would like to clarify that the person concerned was allowed to enter the mall premises within no time. We would like to state that on the basis of the detailed report from the security agency, the person in question was asked for verification by the security guards and directed to the desired destination in less than five minutes. We regret any inconvenience caused to the customer but security precautions are part of the process. We would also like to clearly state that we neither had nor have any intentions of hurting sentiments or discriminating against anyone on the basis of their caste or gender. In fact we strongly believe in an inclusive society. It is a public space and everyone is welcome.”