Selvi is a Kothi person who lives near Bagalkot. She has been in a relationship with a cisgender man for a while. One night, he stole her watch, mobile phone and money and ran away. When she found out about this, she questioned him. He humiliated her and said he would never have sexual relations with a trans person and that she is lying. She decided to go to the Milana Sangh and tell them about her issues.
The CBO heard her story and decided to help her. They tried talking to the man but in vain. So, they arrived at the police station at around 7PM. The police sat them down and listened to their issues, but did not understand the issue. The CBO members could see the prejudices, judgment and stigma from the police. They asked a lot of questions like ‘Why are you working with the community? What work do you do? Why were you with a man?’. The CBO members and Selvi answered them patiently and finally, the police were convinced. At around 11PM, they went to the village and brought the person to the station. Police asked multiple times if the incident was true. The man finally admitted his guilt and returned Selvi’s items but he did not return all the money. The police took the items and asked one of the CBO members to talk to them separately. He asked for a bribe but the CBO member refused. The police finally relented after the CBO member threatened to report to his superiors about this. This case got a lot of media attention as well and Milana CBO received visibility through this case.