Last weekend in Nouméa, Joëlla, 45, was killed by around fifteen kicks to the head. The Public Prosecutor’s Office of New Caledonia announced the arrest of two suspects.
Upon their arrival, emergency services could do nothing, the victim presenting a “massive indentation” in the face. Joëlla, a 45-year-old transgender woman, was beaten to death in the night from Saturday to Sunday, February 8, in New Caledonia, in a peripheral district of Nouméa, the capital. On Monday, the public prosecutor’s office announced that two men had been charged and remanded in custody.
The two suspects were already known to the police for thefts, with violence for one of them. Aged 19 and 24, they admitted to having beaten the victim in the Saint-Quentin neighborhood, a sparsely frequented area made up of derelict buildings.
Transfeminicides are systemic
Joëlla received about fifteen kicks to the head before being undressed, reports La 1ère info. “This outburst of extremely serious and gratuitous violence was interrupted by the arrival of a witness”, clarified the public prosecutor of the Republic of Nouméa, Yves Dupas, indicating that transphobia was “the privileged hypothesis” of the investigation. For his defense, he noted, one of the two suspects stated “that he had struck the victim to stop her from offering sexual favors to people in the neighborhood.”
This crime provoked a strong emotional response in the French-speaking Pacific archipelago, where Joëlla was locally known for her volleyball playing. Pointing to the “extreme violence” of this murder, the LGBTQI+ association Rainbowlution Nouvelle-Calédonie recalls that transfeminicide is far from being an isolated act: “This tragedy tragically reminds us that transgender people remain particularly exposed to violence. It underscores the urgency of strengthening prevention, awareness, and protection of LGBTQIA+ people and of actively fighting against hate speech and acts.” The feminist association La Tresse Nouvelle-Calédonie also notes that this murder “fits into a broader context of systemic violence against transgender people”. A gathering in tribute to Joëlla is being prepared, in agreement with the victim’s family.
