Advice | Malaysia owes it to young victims of a cult group to initiate the healing process

Malaysians have been left in a state of disbelief over the past two weeks as police revealed shocking revelations of systemic abuse of children, allegedly at the hands of a cult-linked company that had operated in the country for years.

On Monday, police said they had rescued more than 550 children from nursing homes and religious schools allegedly run by Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH) on the peninsula, based on information gathered through surveillance of the company over more than a decade.

Authorities say the self-styled Islamic conglomerate, which claims to have an extensive business network spanning at least seven countries, is essentially the banned Al-Arqam sect in all but name and emerged from the ashes of the 1994 crackdown. The sect was previously declared illegal due to deviant practices that were inconsistent with the mainstream interpretation of Islam in Malaysia.

Malaysian police chief Razarudin Husain said careful and methodical handling of GISBH was necessary to remove all traces of the sect.