Malaysian police rescue 400 children from abuse in care homes

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian authorities have rescued hundreds of children from foster homes where they were allegedly physically and sexually abused and arrested scores of people in large-scale raids, police said Wednesday.

Police Inspector General Razarudin Husain said 402 children aged between one and 17 were rescued during raids on various charitable homes in the states of Selangor and Negri Sembilan on Wednesday.

Nearly 1,000 police and other officials took part in the morning raids.

This has led to around 170 arrests, including Islamic religious teachers and caregivers of social homes, he added.

Initial investigations have shown that the victims were sexually abused by their caregivers and forced to abuse other children, Razarudin said at a press conference in Pahang state.

“Sick victims were not allowed to seek treatment in hospitals until their condition became critical,” he said, adding that some of the victims, as young as five years old, were also burned with hot spoons.

He said the children would be temporarily housed at a police training centre in the capital Kuala Lumpur and undergo a health check. — France-Presse