Malaysian authorities rescued more than 400 children on Wednesday (11) suspected of being sexually abused at charity homes run by a major Islamic business organization with links to a banned religious sect, the top police official said.
Police arrested 171 adults, including ustazs, or Islamic religious teachers, during coordinated raids on 20 facilities in two Malaysian states, according to Inspector General of Police Razarudin Husain.
Those rescued included 201 boys and 201 girls, aged between one and 17, after reports were filed this month alleging neglect, abuse, sexual harassment and molestation, Razarudin told a news conference. He did not say who wrote the reports.
All the homes were managed by Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB), Razarudin said.
In a statement on Wednesday evening (local time), GISB denied the allegations of sexual abuse and said it did not run the charities.
“It is not our policy to plan and execute actions that are against Islamic and national laws,” the company said, adding that it would file a police report and demand an investigation.
GISB, which is involved in businesses ranging from supermarkets to laundries, operates in several countries including Indonesia, Singapore, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia and Thailand, according to its website.
Razarudin said preliminary police investigations found that the rescued minors were children of Malaysian GISB employees, who were sent to the homes soon after they were born, before being subjected to various forms of abuse.
The victims were allegedly sodomized by adult guardians and then taught to sodomize other children in the homes, he said.
GISB has been linked to the now-defunct Malaysia-based Al-Arqam religious sect, which was banned by the government in 1994. GISB has acknowledged the link but now describes itself as an Islamic conglomerate based on Muslim practices.
The company has previously made headlines for creating the controversial “Obedient Wives Club,” a group that called on women to submit to their husbands “like prostitutes.”
The children will be sent for health checks and documentation, Razarudin said, adding that the case was being investigated under laws covering sexual crimes against children and human trafficking.
“Children and religious sentiments were also used to gain public sympathy and raise funds for the organization,” he said.
“What we have seen is the indoctrination of children using religious tools in harmful ways.”
This content was originally published in Malaysian police rescue 400 minors after suspected sexual abuse in charity homes on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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