KUALA LUMPUR – Prominent cosmetics entrepreneur Nur Sajat, who has moved to Australia as an asylum seeker, claims she was sexually assaulted while under the detention of religious authorities in Malaysia.
The transgender woman made the revelation in a New York Times interview, saying that at least three men had kicked her and pinned her down in January this year after she was summoned by the Selangor religious department.
Nur Sajat said she was joined by several friends and family to meet the officials at the department following several public complaints, adding that she was handcuffed, arrested and charged in a shariah court.
Nur Sajat also said she was placed overnight in a male detention facility.
Nur Sajat’s mother also reportedly witnessed the assault and confronted an officer, who noted it was OK since Nur Sajat “was a man”.
“They think it is justified to touch my private parts and my breasts because they perceive me as a male person,” Nur Sajat was quoted as saying.
“They didn’t treat me with any compassion or humanity.”
Despite filing a police report, Nur Sajat said the authorities did not take action against the religious department enforcer who was called in to give a statement.
According to an AFP report earlier today, Nur Sajat, who is accused of insulting Islam in Malaysia, said today she is “safe, happy and free” in Australia.
Nur Sajat, a millionaire who runs a cosmetics business, said officials promised to help her settle in the country.
“Australia chose me... due to my case. So, I did not apply (for asylum) to any other country,” she said in a video interview from an undisclosed location.
“I was intimidated and abused (in Malaysia). The Australian government realised this,” she said.
Nur Sajat’s case has highlighted concerns about the worsening climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) folk in Malaysia, with officials increasingly cracking down against members of the community and seeking to toughen related laws.
Nur Sajat was charged earlier this year after attending a 2018 religious event dressed in women’s clothes, and faces up to three years in jail or a fine, if convicted.
She also faces separate charges of obstructing and threatening a public servant, which she denies.
The entrepreneur said Australian officials have kept in constant communication with her, but did not reveal how she travelled to the country from Thailand early this month.
Canberra’s Home Affairs Department said it does not comment on individual cases because of privacy concerns.
The 36-year-old said she fled to Thailand earlier this year because she “was abused and treated inhumanely” by religious officials in Malaysia.
She was arrested by Thai authorities last month over an invalid passport and later released on bail. – The Vibes, October 20, 2021
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