Children at Global Ikhwan welfare homes punished with 500 squats, says minister

 

Police rescued a total of 662 children from welfare homes linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings, early last month. (PDRM pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: 

Investigations into the children rescued from welfare homes linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH) found some of them had to do 500 ear squats (ketuk ketampi) as a punishment, says home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

Driven by the need to protect these children, he said the police decided on carrying out more thorough investigations, including by using the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

Those responsible must be brought to justice, and the process is very clear in how we are making decisions on this matter,

 he said during the ministerial briefing in the Dewan Rakyat on the GISBH issue.

He explained that the large number of detainees – 415 individuals linked to the firm – necessitated some being held under Sosma.

“The scale of the arrests is significant. We will seek remands.

Additionally, the crimes are considered serious, involving material or financial benefits, power, or influence. So, it’s appropriate for us to invoke Section 130V of the Penal Code. This allows us to use Sosma after the remand period expires,

 he said.

Section 130V makes it an offence to be a member of an organised crime group, punishable with not less than five years but not more than 20 years’ imprisonment, upon conviction.

Earlier, two MPs voiced opposition against the government’s use of Sosma to detain 58 individuals linked to GISBH.

Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Bharu) said Sosma should not be used as those arrested were not terrorists, while Hassan Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang) said the use of Sosma undermines the government’s reform agenda.

Underweight, cognitive disorders

Separately, women, family and community development minister Nancy Shukri revealed that a special task force found that some of the rescued children were underweight, while several had cognitive disorders.

The total number of children rescued stood at 662, but Nancy said that 560 are now under the care of the social welfare department and the remainder were returned to their families or guardians.

At first I said 560, but we only focused on 558 as two of the children are with their mothers as they are still nursing. We did not separate them,

 she said, according to Malaysiakini.

She added that the task force found that over half of the 558 children were underweight based on their body mass index (BMI).

She also reported that 78 children had moderate cognitive impairments, 30 had severe cognitive issues, three were issued with disability (OKU) cards, and 27 showed signs of disabilities.

Nancy said that the health ministry and the social welfare department will work together to provide the children with more detailed cognitive assessment. - FMT