FREE AT LAST: Two of the rescued women (left) watch as one of their friends, who passed out upon leaving the police station, is carried by a consulate officer to a waiting van.
KUCHING: Five Indonesian women were rescued from captivity on Tuesday night after being lured here as maids and subjected to vicious beatings and rapes by their employer and his two sons.
The incident came to light after one of the women made a daring escape from the employer’s house at Jalan Maxwell here, and sought the help of a Good Samaritan to send her to the Indonesian consulate.
Following a police report lodged by an official from the consulate, police stormed the house at 8.20pm and arrested the man and his sons, before rescuing the remaining four women aged between 16 and 40 years old.
Speaking at a press conference here yesterday, State CID chief SAC Huzir Mohamed said the suspects, aged between 21 and 63, would be investigated under the Anti Trafficking In Persons Act 2007, Section 376 of the Penal Code for rape, and Section 324 of the Penal Code for causing grievous hurt.
“We believe the women were duped by the suspects into entering the state as maids, but were instead held captive in the house and not paid.
“In addition, initial investigation also indicated they were subjected to beatings and rapes, as well as being denied proper food,” said Huzir.
He said the police still needed to interview the victims to obtain more information about what had transpired in the house, including establishing when they were brought into the state, as they did not have proper documentation.
All five women have been sent to the hospital to undergo a medical examination.
On a separate matter, the state CID chief said the police had begun investigating the statutory rape of an underage girl from Engkilili, who died on June 2 from complications after giving birth to a premature baby who also died.
“I have instructed the investigating officer to obtain more information from the hospital and the doctor, as well as directing the Lubok Antu police to interview the girl’s schoolmates and friends,” he said, adding that the police’s focus was to find out who was responsible for the girl’s pregnancy.
On claims that the girl’s body was dug up and placed naked in the cemetery three days after her burial, Huzir said the police were also investigating the case, which they have classified as trespassing on burial places under Section 297 of the Penal Code.
He said there were no signs of defilement on the girl’s body when it was found, dispelling rumours circulating among locals that the corpse had been raped after it was dug up.