KUALA LUMPUR: Police on Monday rescued five children suspected to be exploited for child labour by a couple at a house in Taman Bukit Seputeh here.
Brickfields police chief ACP Anuar Omar today said police arrested a 55-year-old man and his wife, aged 54, during the raid.
He said police received a report from an 18-year-old male teenager of the abused children at the home on Monday at about 4pm .
Anuar said the teenager who was also an inmate of the home had escaped from the place hours earlier.
He said soon after police raided the house before rescuing the remaining victims of human trafficking who are aged between eight and 17.
“Investigations showed that the couple had in 2017 brought 16 children from a orphanage in Kulim, Kedah and housed them at Taman Bukit Seputeh before allegedly forcing them to perform chores at the place,” Anuar said.
He said the children were allegedly beaten up if they did not adhere to the couple’s orders.
Unable to bear the abuse, 14 children at the home had fled the place over the years, Anuar said.
He said a remand order to further detain the couple will be sought and the case is being investigated under laws of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.
He urged those with information on the case to contact Brickfields police at 03-2297 9222 or the KL police hotline at 03-2115 9999.
