Pix Faiz Anuar
KLANG: A man seen in a viral video allegedly abusing several students at a school linked to scandal-ridden Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB) will face charges under the Child Act 2001.
The suspect arrived at the court complex here at 9.45am heavily guarded by investigators from the Bukit Aman Classified Crime Investigation Unit.
He will be produced before Sessions Court judge Noridah Adam.
The charge under Section 31(1)(a) of the Act for ill-treatment, neglect, abandonment or exposure of children carries a maximum fine of RM50,000 or jail sentence of not more than 20 years or both.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain had said GISBH had been on the police watch list since 2011 and they have detected several videos of children being abused, believed to have taken place in GISB- linked homes.
Two such videos have since emerged on social media. One video, lasting one minute and nine seconds, showed a boy crying while a man knelt on his chest.
The man, who is off-camera, was heard asking why the child was crying and also pinched his nose.
"Why are you crying, do you want to die?" the man was heard saying.
Another 42-second video showed a boy being caned on the palm of his hand, causing him to writhe in pain.
The police crackdown on GISB in a series of raids codenamed Op Global started on Sept 11 at 20 welfare homes in Selangor and Negri Sembilan which were allegedly operated by the organisation. Police rescued 402 children.
The subsequent raids have so far seen a total of 572 children rescued from other GISB linked homes and 355 people, including religious teachers, arrested.
The probe revealed that many of the children had suffered physical and emotional abuse, with 13 reportedly victims of sexual assault, including sodomy.
Razarudin had also said initial investigations suggested that caretakers had also taught the children to sodomise other children, many had also suffered physical and emotional abuse.
In a video, GISB chairman and chief executive officer Datuk Nasiruddin Mohd Ali said that "one or two" cases of sodomy occurred in its welfare homes but involved several people.
On Sept 21, Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah ordered all unregistered charity homes and Islamic schools in the state under GISB and its network suspected of being involved in any criminal activities to be immediately closed to protect children from further abuse.
Sultan Sharafuddin expressed disappointment over the reports of criminal activities by GISB.
His Majesty had said according to reports he received, most of the charity homes under GISB have been operating for a long time in several states, particularly in Selangor, without registration as required by current laws.