Eleven rescued after three years of slave labour

BINTULU: Eleven Indonesians suspected of being victims of human trafficking for three years were rescued by police in Bintulu here recently.
The victims, nine women and two men aged 18 to 44, were rescued after the Bintulu Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team raided a house in Taman Heng, Jalan Sebiew at 2.45pm on Monday.
Sarawak CID chief SAC Datuk Dev Kumar said the Indonesians were forced to clean the house which was used as a bird's nest farm.
"Upon surveillance, the raiding party had to cut a padlock and break down a door before locating the victims confined in a room.
"They were crying and pleaded for help and to be rescued," he told theSun.
Dev also revealed that a couple aged 53 and 59 were subsequently nabbed in the raid.
"The female suspect hurled vulgarities and even threatened the police when she was being questioned," he added.
Preliminary investigations revealed the human trafficking victims had been locked in the small room for the past three years.
"They were not paid for their work, nor were allowed to leave the house. They were forced into cleaning bird's nests in the house," said Dev.
Police found the victims were also beaten and physically abused if they failed to perform their tasks satisfactorily.
The Indonesians were sent to the welfare authorities for shelter while the couple are being investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Act 2007.
The couple were remanded at the Bintulu court complex today.