India's third gender : Eunuchs or Hijras,"despised, discriminated and feared ones" are one of the most esoteric folk groups.

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India is the only country where the tradition of eunuchs is prevalent today. The number across India is estimated at one descendants of the court eunuchs of the Mughal Empire (1526-1858), the"aruvani" as they prefer to be called now earn their living as beggars, dancers and prostitutes. Most are homosexual transvestites, some of whom have gone through a crude sex-change a grotesque parody of womanhood they roam busy marketplaces terrorizing pedestrians, hustling for ten or a hundred rupees. There are reports that Hijras kidnap young men, forcibly castrate them and force them into prostitution, gaining income for the community. Byculla, Mumbai, Bombay, Maharastra, India, Asia

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Size: 3658px × 5524px
Location: Byculla, Mumbai, Maharastra, India, Asia
Photo credit: © Ladi Kirn / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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