KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 (Askume) – Malaysian police said on Friday they would summon top executives of an Islamic business group over alleged sexual and physical assaults on children rescued by a charity run by the company.
Police this week rescued 402 children and teenagers during raids on 20 premises allegedly run by the Islamist group Global Ikhwan Services and Business (GISB) .
GISB says it does not operate shelters and denies allegations of sexual abuse at shelters. A GISB spokesman said on Friday that the company had not yet been summoned by the police.
Inspector General of Police Lazaruddin Hossain said physical and mental health checks were conducted on the 172 rescued individuals, with many found to have old and new injuries, as well as signs of mental trauma and developmental delay.
Resodine said some of the children were disabled or sick and 13 others had been raped.
The case sparked outrage in Muslim-majority Malaysia, with some critics questioning why action was not taken sooner although police said they had received complaints about GISB as early as 2011.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday that he had directed officials to conduct an urgent investigation and take immediate action if any irregularities were found at the GISB, state news agency Bernama reported.
Razodeen said that of the 171 people arrested in the raid, 159 have been detained pending investigation, while the others were found to be minors and have been released.
He said four men and one woman were being investigated for homosexuality.
Links to banned sects
Rajoddin said police would summon the GISB board for questioning and did not rule out the possibility of further arrests or raids on premises linked to the group. He did not say when they would receive the call, citing the pending investigation.
The company, which has ties to Malaysia’s banned Islamic religious sect, operates everything from supermarkets to laundromats in 20 countries, according to its website.
The group acknowledges links to the now-defunct Malaysian Al-Arqam sect, which was outlawed by the government in 1994, but now describes itself as an Islamic group based on Muslim rituals.
Razodin said the minors were mostly third- or fourth-generation GISB members whose parents worked for the company and had abandoned their children at the age of two.
“We have found examples of children whose parents have been working in Saudi Arabia for six years but their children are still here … this is a form of neglect, abuse and exposure,” he said, adding that some children have not seen their parents for years.
He said officers examined 392 children at police facilities, while those who were sick or had special needs were handed over to the Welfare Department and the Health Ministry for further care.
Resodine said the investigation could be expanded to include charges of fraud and money laundering, and he urged potential victims to come forward.
