As many as 402 minors were recently rescued from 18 religious care homes across our beloved country. It is truly harrowing to think that something so heinous was happening in our literal backyards. Raids were performed across sites in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. Reports stated that victims as young as one year old, up to 17, were forced to perform vile acts on each other while others were punished using hot spoons, Inspector-General Razarudin Husain said at a press conference.
Claiming that it is all part of religious treatment, perpetrators aged between 17 to 64 would inappropriately touch these minors. Children who fell ill were also forbidden from seeking medical attention until the situation became dire. Some of them were also punished using metal objects.
What's even more heartbreaking was the fact that most of these victims are not orphans. They were placed by their parents in these centres to receive religious education. The care homes are allegedly linked to a prominent Islamic conglomerate - the Islamic Global Ikhwan Group (GISB) - which has issued a statement denying any wrongdoing.
This all started with a report filed of child molestation, exploitation and sexual abuse at a Port Dickson care facility which led to 6 arrests. Police then opened up investigations into the entity behind this facility, which is GISB. GISB's modus operandi was having minors gather donations for the sustainability of their centres. These allegations were denied by the group and they stated in their Facebook page that “Our stance is very clear: we are committed to always adhering to the law and supporting the government's aspirations in developing the country.”
Out of the 402 children that were rescued, 201 were girls and 201 were boys. A teacher and caretakers of the dorms were amongst some of the suspects caught in this operation.
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