Children linked to banned Malaysian sect were caned, burned, starved: Police

Many of the 402 children rescued last week from Malaysian group homes linked to a banned sect were caned, burned, starved, forced into hard labor and emotionally abused, police said Tuesday after completing health screenings on most of them. 

Police also said they froze about 100 bank accounts associated with Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH), a company founded by members of the al-Arqam sect. Authorities have linked the firm to the 20 homes in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, where police raids took place Sept. 11. 

“The screenings showed evidence of physical abuse, including beatings, caning and burns from hot objects,” Razarudin Husain, Malaysia’s police inspector-general, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. 

Meanwhile in a rare statement Tuesday, King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar called for “a thorough investigation” and “immediate action” regarding the case. 

 Razarudin said children between the ages of 1 and 17 were traumatized and would require additional evaluations to assess their mental health.

Malaysia outlawed al-Arqam in 1994 for allegedly promoting a deviant form of Islam, the religion followed by the Malay majority.

At least 159 suspects have been arrested, including one caretaker seen in a viral video allegedly assaulting children at one of the homes.

Videos circulating on social media, which authorities have confirmed as authentic, showed scenes of abuse, including corporal punishment and one clip where a boy was pinned to the ground while being physically punished.

GISBH, in a video statement over the weekend, played down the accusations, saying there were only “one or two cases.” The group acknowledged that its assets had been frozen and appealed for donations to fund its legal defense.

‘Bin Abdullah’

The investigation has raised concerns about the true identities of some of the rescued children, many of whom carried the surname “bin Abdullah” – a name often given to children born out of wedlock in Muslim communities. 

Police previously said that all 402 children rescued were believed to be the offspring of GISBH members.

“The real number of orphans remains unclear, and investigators are looking into whether some of the children may have been taken under false pretenses or it could be that the parents’ marriage previously was not registered as customary marriage,” Razarudin said.

“If any of their parents come forward to claim their children, they will need to undergo a thorough screening process.”

So far, 149 of the children have been transferred to government safe houses at four undisclosed locations managed by Malaysia’s Welfare Department. The others remain in temporary police care in Kuala Lumpur.

Separately, police have frozen 96 bank accounts, shut down four others and seized eight vehicles linked to GISBH. Authorities did not release details about the vehicles.

Authorities have opened 33 investigation papers on a range of alleged crimes including child labor, neglect and sexual abuse. No timeline has been provided for prosecuting those involved.

“Mental, sexual and social abuse leaves deep scars, especially when it occurs over a long period – more than two or three months, or even years,” Mariani Md Nor, a child psychologist at SEGi University in Kuala Lumpur, told BenarNews. 

“It will take a long time to treat them so they can recover and grow positively. It may take years.”

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