Beninese authorities must launch a prompt, impartial and independent investigation into a violent attack against a transgender woman by police officers, Amnesty International said today. Nadia* told Amnesty International how she was taken to Pahou Police Station after being assaulted by residents of her neighbourhood in the city of Ouidah on 4 February. Instead of helping her, police officers beat Nadia with sticks and machetes, stripped her naked and photographed her. “There must be an urgent investigation into this horrendous attack. Not only was Nadia severely beaten by police officers, she was detained for three days, during which time she was forced to remain completely naked. This is transphobia in its most vicious, hateful and deplorable form,” said Fabien Offner, West Africa Researcher at Amnesty International. Nadia filed a complaint against the aggressors and the police officers of the Pahou Police Station for “intentional assault and battery, violence and assault, theft and indecent exposure” with the Ouidah prosecutor’s office, which acknowledged receipt of the complaint on 22 February.In the complaint, Nadia 22, accused motorbike taxi drivers and residents of her neighborhood of beating, stripping, robbing and photographing her after they accused her and three other transgender friends of theft on 4 February.