KUALA LUMPUR: Police have opened a wrongful confinement probe following claims by Ummu Atiyyah, the daughter of Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad, that she was a victim of violence.
She also claimed she had been forced to marry a leader of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB).
Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Razarudin Husain, said the 41-year-old woman lodged a police report, claiming that she was forced to marry one of the GISB leaders in Turkey before being brought back to Malaysia and locked up in a GISB settlement in Batu Hampar, Perak.
"The complainant claimed that the settlement in question was inhabited by many teenagers and adults aged 13 and above.
"She claimed to have been locked in a room on the same floor for about a month by four male GISB followers, who also prevented her from using a mobile phone," he said.
He said she tried several times to escape from the village but was caught by other residents.
"The complainant claimed she tried to escape because she could not stand the actions of the GISB followers who locked her up and separated her from her child.
"The complainant also received psychiatric treatment at a Taiping hospital in 2018 and is now on medical prescriptions from a Melaka hospital," he said.
He said police are working on getting the complainant's medical records and reports.
He said the complainant would be brought to the house where she had been confined to assist further investigations.
"We have opened investigations under Section 342 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement.
"We are also working on tracking down the four men who were directly involved in confining the complainant," he said.
Reports had previously claimed that Ummu Atiyyah was betrayed by her own sibling, forced into marriage and subjected to mental and physical abuse.
After her father's passing in 2010, Ummu Atiyyah claimed she was coerced into marrying a powerful figure in the group in 2015.
The marriage was allegedly intended to strengthen the group's hold on her family.