400 children rescued from shelters in Malaysia
Last Updated on September 13, 2024 9:39 am
Allegations of physical and sexual abuse have been reported at 20 shelters in Malaysia’s Selangor and Negeri Sembilan provinces. The country’s police rescued 402 children and teenagers in this incident. 171 officers and employees of these institutions including teachers and caretakers have been arrested in this incident.
This information came out in a BBC report on Thursday.
According to the report, Inspector General of Police Rajarudin Hossain said in a press conference that the police rescued the children from 20 shelters in two states of Malaysia in a coordinated operation. During this time, they arrested 171 adults, including ‘ustaj’ or religious teachers.
He also said that complaints of neglect, abuse, sexual harassment and oppression were filed against these institutions this month. After that the rescue operation was carried out. The age of those rescued is between 1 and 17 years.
However, he did not give any information about who made the complaint.
The Inspector General of Police also said that the shelters are managed by Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB). A banned religious sect is involved with this commercial establishment.
Earlier on Wednesday, the GISB issued a statement denying allegations of sexual abuse, saying it does not run the shelters as a charity. According to the organization, it is against our policy to plan and conduct any work that is contrary to Islamic and national laws. It is also reported that they will complain to the police and demand an investigation.
According to GISB’s website, the company is involved in businesses ranging from supermarkets to laundries. They have commercial operations in several countries including Indonesia, Singapore, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia and Thailand.
According to preliminary investigation by the police, the rescued children are the children of Malaysian GISB employees. They are sent to these shelters a few days after birth. As they grew up in shelters, they were subjected to various tortures.