Malaysian entrepreneur Nur Sajat finds refuge in Australia

Trans social media personality and businesswoman Nur Sajat recently found refuge in Australia. She fled Malaysia earlier in 2021 following an alleged sexual assault by religious officers.

Nur Sajat runs a successful beauty business in Malaysia called Nur Sajat Aesthetic. She is also a prominent social media personality in the majority Moslem country.

She went into hiding earlier this year following a summons to appear before an Islamic court. Sajat faced up to three years in prison for breaking Sharia law. Her offence related to her wearing a pink dress to a 2018 event as part of her charity work.

After fleeing Malaysia, Nur Sajat travelled to Thailand where police arrested her in September for entering the country illegally. Authorities later announced moves to deport her.

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch told the South China Morning Post that an unnamed country had granted Sajat asylum.

Nur Sajat then announced her arrival in Australia.

Speaking earlier in 2021, Sajat said that religious police assaulted her on the day of her initial arrest. She claimed a number of men kicked her and groped her breasts.

“They think it is justified to touch my private parts and my breasts because they perceive me as a male person. They didn’t treat me with any compassion or humanity.”

Although Malaysian authorities called in a religious enforcement officer over the incident, they took no further action.

Nur Sajat in Australia

Sajat said she felt ‘protected to be my true self’ once Australia granted her refuge.

“I felt trapped in my own country, where I was born, because of the laws there that criminalise me and consider me a man.”

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