A screenshot of the video showing Lily (right) and her friend that went viral.
KUCHING: A YouTube video of an alleged Sarawakian Melanau girl, who claimed to have fallen victim to slavery and human trafficking in Johor Bahru and ended up becoming a refugee after fleeing to Europe six years ago, has surfaced and went viral in Facebook overnight.
In the video released under the Polaris Northern Star Channel on May 9, the girl, who only identified herself as Lily, was accompanied by a European man who claimed to be her guardian and best friend.
The video has since been watched over 300,000 times with over 500 comments as of noon today.
Both of them appealed to the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had led the Pakatan Harapan coalition to score historic victory and toppling the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), for help in obtaining proper paperworks and secure her return to Malaysia.
Lily claimed that she was a victim of slavery when she was 23 and had went through repeated abuse, being locked up, severely beaten and exploited in Johor Bahru before escaping to Europe in 2011.
“This is a message to Dr Mahathir. I am very happy that you win the election 2018. I am a Malaysian national. I also suffer from the corruption and I heard you fight against corruption. I ask you for help because nobody wants to help me. I live in Europe for six years as a refugee.
“I am fleeing from corruption from Johor Bahru. The police tried to kill me. They actually set up the trap to kill me.”
She also claimed that the criminals had attempted to sell her off as slave for 30,000 Singapore Dollars and the corrupted police officers of Taman University in Johor, who were involved, only watched as she was beaten and locked up.
Her male friend added that when he met Lily in Singapore, he found out that she was economically exploited and abused to the point that she regularly collapsed and has severe health problems while all her money were confiscated.
“I didn’t know how bad the situation was. At certain moment, they tried to sell her. We were good friends. Later, corrupt police would help criminals, grabbed her by her neck and slammed her head against the fence. They had their hands on the holsters and actually told me that they would shoot me if I would intervene.
“They stole all her belongings, stole my belongings. I pleaded with them not to do that and survived that (ordeal) and later when I was at the Netherlands I still received phone calls from a corrupt police demanding payoff amount so that she won’t get tortured or killed in Malaysia.
“We tried to talk to some police chiefs but they didn’t take us seriously. For six years, we tried to ask help from a specific consulate but we’re ridiculed.”
Following Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the just concluded general election, Lily said she now sees the possibility for her to go home.
“Lily really wants to go home. She is a Bumiputera Melanau from Sarawak. The thing that they (criminals) did was they messed up with her paperwork. They changed data (identity) and even her race from Chinese to Melanau to Dutch and back and suddenly a Malay,” the male friend said.
“I am serious and I really want to go home. I need proper documents with my real name and surname to return to Malaysia and safely with protection from the sick criminals,” Lily added.
Following the first video that went viral, there was also another follow-up video to answer the skeptics who accused the duo of being scammers. In the second video, Lily attempted to speak Bahasa Melayu Sarawak, while emphasising that she has not spoken much Malay in the last six years and stating that she spoke no Melanau language as Melanau is only part of her mixed heritage of Melanau, Chinese and Dutch.
Note to readers: Six years away from home is not a very long time. If this is a genuine case, people like her personal friends in Sarawak should be able to recognise her and verify her plight. The Borneo Post encourages readers to share her story for awareness, but advises against assisting her in any way that may be personally or financially detrimental.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmsNO7sjl5E&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIwA2xkGpu4