KUALA LUMPUR: Two heartbroken mothers shared the gut-wrenching stories of their sons' captivity at the hands of cruel scammers.
In the first case, a security guard was deceived into working for a scam syndicate in Cambodia.
He endured brutal mistreatment, being tased and forced to eat pork and rat meat for resisting to their fraudulent schemes.
His mother, Sal, 54, wept as she recounted his ordeal to the media today.
The housewife claimed that her son was also beaten and electrocuted with a taser because he refused to work for the scam syndicate.
"A friend of his had invited him over to Sarawak in July this year. He contacted me on 20 August to tell me that he had followed an acquaintance to Cambodia to work at a hotel that paid a RM5,000 salary," she said, adding that he claimed to have been ushered into a luxury vehicle and brought to Kaoh Thum in Cambodia.
She said her son called her every day and told her that he was being beaten and tased by his captors.
"He also complained that they forced him to eat pork and rat meat because he did not want to work for the scam syndicate.
"He said that he was once beaten by about 10 men and suffered bruises all over his body.
"He told me that if he failed to work for them by Dec 31, the syndicate would starve him and isolate him in a dark room," she said, adding that her son told her that he was willing to sacrifice his life rather than cheat others.
Sal said that the syndicate also demanded a RM12,000 ransom for the release of her son.
Meanwhile, another mother who only wished to be known as Rong, 36, pleaded with authorities to bring home her son who was forced to work for a scam syndicate in Myanmar.
"My 19-year-old son had gone to Bangkok on Dec 7 as part of his journey to Cambodia for work.
"Once he reached Bangkok, he was told that the other airport was flooded and that they were forced to drive to his place of work," she said, adding that once her son reached the Myanmar border, the driver beat him up and forced him to follow them.
She said her son claimed that the syndicate was accompanied by men wearing army fatigues.
"He claimed to have been pistol-whipped and forced to work for the syndicate," she said.
Meanwhile, Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim said they have contacted several agencies abroad to help in rescuing the two victims as well as several others still trapped there.