CNA reported that “Zoey”, who wished to go by a pseudonym, said her former husband forced himself on her up to five times a day and beat her even when she was pregnant. She claims that he also beat their children.
Now a single mother of nine children, Zoey alleged that senior GISBH members turned a blind eye to her plight and urged her to stay in the marriage.
The 34-year-old said she lodged a police report against her former husband three years into their marriage, but her father-in-law told her to withdraw it after promising that his son would change.
He also persuaded her not to divorce his son as he said it would embarrass GISBH.
Zoey’s claims come as a daughter of Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad alleged last week that a GISBH leader had raped and abused her after she was forced to marry him in 2015.
Al-Arqam is a religious group which the National Fatwa Council banned in 1994 for deviant teachings. GISBH previously said it had discarded its former image as Al-Arqam’s business wing and was positioned as a multinational company.
The group is being investigated for child abuse, sexual abuse, human trafficking, money laundering and deviant Islamic teachings, with six states having declared its teachings and practices as deviant over the past month.
Brainwashed into thinking Ashaari caused Indian Ocean earthquake
Zoey also claimed she was brainwashed by GISBH, recounting how she was told by its leaders that Ashaari had “caused” the Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004 as he “wanted to cleanse the place of sins”.
The ensuing tsunami caused one of the largest natural disasters in history, killing at least 225,000 people in countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and Thailand.
“When I think back (at it) … wow! That was stupid… we were brainwashed,” CNA quoted her as saying.
She said her parents had been GISBH members since she was a child. She attended school in Singapore until she was 10 years old before moving to Indonesia to a hostel run by the group. She moved to Selangor in 2003, where she stayed with other teens in a hostel run by GISBH.
She said the group was taught that Ashaari, who died in 2010, was still able to communicate with its leaders from the supernatural realm. They were also taught that Ashaari was an intermediary to God and would save them on judgment day.
“We were only allowed to read reading materials (about Ashaari) that (GISBH) issued us … Nothing else, not even newspapers,” she claimed.
Zoey said she left her husband and GISBH in 2021 after seeking help from an NGO
GISBH created headlines on Sept 11 when police raided at least 20 welfare homes linked to it and rescued more than 600 children who were believed to have been exploited. Police said some of them were sexually abused.
More than 400 people associated with GISBH, including its top management, have been detained in recent operations to clamp down on the company’s activities across the country.