PETALING JAYA, June 11 — The 24 Indonesian maids who were rescued by police from an alleged maid-for-sex syndicate have received an interim protection order (IPO) to facilitate police investigations, said Selangor police chief Datuk Abdul Samah Mat.
“They have been transferred to a protection centre in Kuala Lumpur,” he said yesterday after witnessing the handover ceremony of the new Petaling Jaya police chief at the district police headquarters.
The main suspect in the case, believed to be the syndicate’s mastermind, had his remand order extended for another week after it ended yesterday.
A missing person’s report made by one of the maids for her baby on May 31 led police to uncover the remains of a six-month-old baby and stumble upon the syndicate, believed to have committed an array of crimes including rape, illegal confinement, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The syndicate was masterminded by the main suspect who smuggled in and held captive 29 Indonesian women. The women were then forced to work as part-time cleaners at homes in the Klang Valley.
They were also sexually exploited by customers. The main suspect and his wife, both in their 40s, were detained on June 3.
The maid who made the police report was sent to work for a friend of the suspect for six months, during which she claimed she was raped repeatedly by her employer.
Indonesian Embassy consular affairs consul Dino Nurwahyudin said the embassy would interview the rescued maids to gain more information on the syndicate.
“In the meantime, we will give space for the Malaysian police’s investigation to proceed and develop. We highly appreciate the swift action in uncovering the maid-for-sex syndicate, and are thankful that our citizens were rescued,” Dino said.
He believed that by obtaining the IPO, Malaysian police already had concrete evidence of the suspects’ exploitation of the maids. He also hoped the remaining five Indonesians would be found soon.
