Transgender model and activist Kami Sid has finally broken her silence over allegations of rape and intimidation that were leveled against her earlier this week.
Kami and her partner Sid were accused of being involved in raping a trans girl in 2014, and then suppressing evidence. Kami was also accused of threatening anyone who had incriminating evidence against her or spoke up about the case.
In a statement issued late last night, Kami denied the allegations, saying, “I have never committed such a horrible crime.â€
Having kept her silence since the allegations were first made public earlier this week, Kami insisted that this was her first and only official statement regarding the issue. “I have always believed that my own actions and my own hard work speak better for me than any rumors,†she said.
In her statement, she referred to the decisive investigations that went on when the case was first brought up in 2014. “Both the NGOs that I was working with at that time and the khwajasara community decided to investigate the case,†stated Kami, and that the investigation was painstaking and difficult for her.
“I knew that I was innocent and had nothing to fear. In the end, indeed, both the NGOs I was working with and the khwajasara community could prove me innocent and that all allegations made against me were rendered as being false,†she added.
Calling out to her accusers, she invited them to bring the case to court. “If you have evidence against me, then bring it forward in court and I will stand against it,†challenged Kami in her statement.
She went on to elucidate that her detractors have always rallied against her when she achieves something in life, possibly referring to the recent screening of her film Rani at the Short Film Corner at Cannes Film Festival.
Rani, starring Kami Sid was recently screened at the Short Film Corner at CannesÂ
She added how it is very easy to accuse members of the transgender community of sexual violence because of the age-old prejudices against them. “Several of the people who are accusing me have also accused khwajasara culture of sexual violence before. These kinds of allegations have been used by people again and again which harms our community in the long run,†stated Kami.
“We are not perpetrators of rape and sexual violence,†she said, and closed her statement warning her accusers of legal procedures soon.
Read the statement here.
