Malaysian police rescue 402 children after allegations of sexual abuse in Islamic nursing homes

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian authorities rescued 402 children and arrested 171 suspects on Wednesday after raiding 20 nursing homes linked to an Islamic business organization that exploited and sexually abused children, the national police chief said.

Police Inspector Razarudin Husain said the raids were carried out following investigations into allegations of child abandonment, deviant teachings and sexual abuse at the homes run by Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings.

A total of 201 boys and 201 girls, aged between 1 and 17, were rescued from 18 homes in the central state of Selangor and two in the southern state of Negeri Sembilan, he said. The 171 suspects — 66 men and 105 women — included religious teachers and caregivers, he said.

Children were not only sexually abused by caregivers but were also forced to do the same to each other in the institutions, Razarudin said during a televised news conference.

“Those who were sick were not allowed to seek medical attention until their condition became critical,” he said. Some young children were also burned with a hot spoon when they made mistakes, and caretakers had touched the children’s bodies as if to perform medical checks, he said.

Police believe that Global Ikhwan is exploiting children and using religious sentiments to collect donations, police said.

Investigations showed that the children in the care homes belonged to members of the Global Ikhwan group, who had been placed in the homes by their parents since they were babies, he said. The children would undergo medical assessment amid ongoing investigations, he added.

According to the website, Global Ikhwan was founded by Ashaari Mohamad, who headed the Al Arqam Islamic sect, which was deemed heretical and banned by the government in 1994. The group was said to have undergone a number of rebrandings since Ashaari died in 2010.

The group has also recently come to the attention of Islamic authorities amid allegations that it is still involved in the deviant teachings of the Al-Arqam sect.

Global Ikhwan denied allegations it exploited children in a statement on Wednesday and said it would cooperate with authorities. But it did not mention allegations of sexual abuse against them.

“The company will not compromise on any activity that is contrary to the law, especially regarding the exploitation of children as workers,” the statement said.

Global Ikhwan’s website says it is involved in a wide range of businesses, including food and beverage, media, medical, travel and real estate. The company employs more than 5,000 people and has operations in 20 countries, including a chain of restaurants in London, Paris, Australia and Dubai.