London: A transsexual who had fled to Britain from India after the media reported that he was actually born a woman, now faces deportation. Sameer Neelam was born female and was secretly living as a man with another woman in Hyderabad. Neelam said he was subjected to violence and harassment after the Indian media brought out that he was not a man, BBC reported. The transsexual thus sought asylum in Bradford fearing that he will have to live in India as a woman.

According to British government guidelines on asylum applications from transsexuals, an applicant may claim asylum when he or she fears persecution on the basis of his or her actual or perceived gender identity. Neelam said that after media exposed his real gender identity, he wanted to kill himself, but since moving to Britain, he had been able to live openly as a man. “I'm enjoying my life as a man. If somebody calls me 'Mr' or says 'he' I feel energetic,” Neelam was quoted as saying. "Here I'm considered as what I am. In India, I can't dress like this. Nobody counts me as a man,” Neelam said. Neelam, however, has not undergone surgical procedures to change his gender, reported BBC Thursday.