Authorities in Malaysia reported on Wednesday that they had apprehended numerous individuals in extensive raids and had saved hundreds of children from care facilities where they had allegedly been subjected to physical and sexual abuse.
Inspector-general Razarudin Husain of the police reported that 402 children, ranging in age from one to seventeen, were saved on Tuesday during raids at different charitable houses located in the states of Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
Almost a thousand officers and representatives of various agencies participated in the early raids.
He said, “That resulted in about 170 arrests, including Islamic religious instructors and caregivers at the welfare homes.”
Initial investigations revealed that the victims were sexually abused by their caretakers and forced to abuse other children, Razarudin told a news conference in Pahang state.
“Victims who were ill were not allowed to seek treatment at clinics until their condition become critical,” he said, adding that some as young as five were also burnt with hot spoons.
He said the children would be temporarily housed at a police training centre in the capitol Kuala Lumpur and would undergo health checks.
