I was groped by religious officers, says Nur Sajat

 

Nur Sajat says the religious officials did not treat her with any compassion or humanity. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Cosmetics entrepreneur Nur Sajat, who has been granted asylum in Australia, has claimed that she was groped by religious officers when she was called in for questioning.

In an interview with the New York Times, Nur Sajat said her mother witnessed the assault and confronted one officer, asking how pious Muslims could do something like that.

“He responded that Nur Sajat was a man so it was ok.

“They think it is justified to touch my private parts and my breasts because they perceive me as a male person,” Nur Sajat added.

“They didn’t treat me with any compassion or humanity,” she was further quoted as saying.

After the incident, Nur Sajat made a police report, and a few days later the authorities said a religious department enforcement officer was called in to give a statement.

She said her troubles began in January when she was summoned to the religious department and she and several friends and family members met the officials who said they had received public complaints about her.

While inside, she said at least three men kicked her, pinned her down and groped her.

She was then placed overnight in a male detention facility.

Nur Sajat escaped in February to Thailand, where she was later convicted of illegal entry which merited extradition to Malaysia, and Malaysian authorities made it clear they wanted her back.

She revealed that she left Thailand this month for Australia, where other transgender Malaysians have been resettled through the United Nations refugee process.

Nur Sajat also said she was forced to abandon a successful business in “a blink of an eye”, adding that she did not see any way to return to Malaysia as long as laws targeting gays and transgender people continued to be enforced. - FMT