Private Johor orphanage linked to rape and abuse case temporarily closed, says exco

JOHOR BARU, Dec 17 — A privately-run orphanage in Taman Mas, Kulai, has been temporarily closed after one its caretakers was arrested for raping and abusing a teen ward.

State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Khairin-Nisa Ismail said the Johor Welfare Department (JKM) also took custody of 55 children, aged between 10 and 17, from the orphanage on December 9.

“From the 55 children who were in the orphanage, 32 were returned to their biological parents on December 10 based on initial intervention.

“The remaining 23 children, consisting of 10 boys and 13 girls, were placed in a safe location under JKM which has been gazetted under the Child Act 2001,” she said in a statement today.

She said the closure was ordered under Section 15 of the Care Centres Act 1993 (Act 506) with the authority of the Social Welfare Department’s director-general.

On December 11, the 23 rescued children were brought before the Children’s Court, which issued a interim placement order under Section 19(2) of the Child Act 2001.

The court ordered that the children be placed in a designated safe facility under the care of JKM.

Khairin-Nisa said that the state government takes a serious view on the case and is committed to addressing the issue of child abuse.

On November 30, it was reported that police had arrested the orphanage’s caretaker after allegations of raping and impregnating a teen resident, who is now 17 years’ old, between 2020 and 2022 surfaced.

The 59-year-old suspect, who is also the orphanage’s chairman, was rearrested on December 10, for alleged child abuse after close-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed him aggressively caning a girl.

He claimed trial at the Johor Baru Sessions Court on Sunday to charges of rape and abuse of a minor.

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