The girls, aged seven to 18, are reportedly from the Caring Hands (Kakum Karangal) welfare home run by the Society of Caring Hands Ipoh. The home caters to underprivileged girls who are there with the consent of their parents.
The girls told the daily that they were whipped on their soles and palms for the tiniest mistakes. They also complained of having been put in a cage with a dog, thrown around, deprived of food for hours, besides being stripped and beaten on their buttocks.
The “Datin” and her husband, a “Datuk”, who is a senior official in the society could not be reached for comments.
The alleged abuse was first discovered after a child psychologist from Singapore noticed various warning signs of abuse suffered by the children while conducting a study at the home and had later sent a full report to the society’s committee.
According to The Sun, on June 11, the society’s secretary Dr Subramaniam Suppiah lodged a police report and as there was no feedback from the authorities, he lodged a second report on Aug 12.
Medical examinations were then carried out by a senior consultant paediatrician at Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun in Ipoh, and the results corroborated the children’s complaints of persistent physical and emotional abuse.
Subramaniam said the committee has discovered that the children were made to be responsible for the cleanliness of the facility, including having to cook their own meals and even forced to handwash their clothes. All this, on top of attending school, tuition and extra-curricular activities.
“They wake up as early as 5.30am daily, and each child had to take turns to cook 34 vegetarian meals a day, including breakfast, lunch and dinner for all the residents,” Subramaniam told The Sun, adding these rules were put in place by the “Datin”.
Subramaniam however, stressed that the rest of the committee were in the dark about what was going on in the home.
He added the committee has since August, suspended both the “Datuk” and “Datin”, but lamented the lack of action from the authorities.
According to the report, the welfare department has only decided against renewing the home’s permit when it expires at the end of the year.