Two days after she went missing from her residence on Tuesday morning, Chandramukhi Muvvala, a well-known trans activist, who is contesting the Telangana polls from Goshamahal, was found on Wednesday night.
This came a day after Chandramukhi’s mother, Anitha Muvvala, represented by lawyer Vasudha Nagraj, filed a habeas corpus writ petition in the Hyderabad High Court. Admitting the petition, the court had asked the Jubilee Hills police to produce Chandramukhi before them by 10.15 am on Thursday.
According to sources, Chandramukhi turned up at the Banjara Hills police station along with her lawyer and some activists late on Wednesday night.
Speaking to TNM, Anitha confirmed that Chandramukhi had been found and was doing okay. She is expected to be produced at the court at 10 am.
"She has come back. She was abducted by someone and intimidated severely, she's dazed and disoriented. She'll share what happened to her before the court," Vasudha Nagaraj, her lawyer, told TNM.
Chandramukhi is contesting the election from Goshamahal as a candidate of Bahujan Left Front. A missing case had been registered at Banjara Hills police station on a complaint by her mother.
The Bahujan Left Front (BLF) had also given an ultimatum of 24-hours and warned of a state-wide agitation if their candidate was not found.
Chandramukhi is taking on bigwigs like Raja Singh of the BJP, Mukesh Goud of Congress and Prem Singh Rathod of TRS.
“In Goshamahal, all the candidates contesting against her have a criminal past and we suspect that someone might be behind her abduction. Despite such a big incident, all the parties have maintained a studious silence, as if nothing has happened. So, we are planning for a state-wide agitation on Thursday, if police don’t find Chandramukhi,” BLF convenor Tammineni Veerabhadram had told TNM a day earlier.
BLF leaders and activists alleged that people who were opposed to a transgender woman contesting the election were behind her disappearance. However, police said on Wednesday after examining the CCTV footage that she left the house on her own and was seen walking alone. A police official said she had masked her face to hide the identity with a scarf.
However, Chandramukhi’s mother, Anitha Muvvala told TNM that the woman on the CCTV footage was not her daughter.
“The woman the police say is my daughter on the CCTV footage is wearing a nightie and a pink scarf. Even the way she is walking does not resemble my daughter. Also, my daughter does not wear a nightie at home and doesn't own any. She wears shorts or pants or t-shirts at home,” she said.
Police had formed 10 teams to trace the missing candidate. Few teams were also deputed to Anantapur and other districts in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.