Gombak police chief Arifai Tarawe said the probe was based on a report lodged by a woman who used to stay at the welfare home in Taman Bidara, Selayang.

He said the 36-year-old woman had recorded instances of children being abused, including being beaten and forced to make money packets.

Arifai said the home’s owner, a 44-year-old woman, had also lodged a police report claiming that a group of individuals had barged into the home at about 2 am yesterday, issuing threats and trying to take the children away.

He said nine children aged between 5 and 12 had been sent to the Child Interview Centre (CIC) and Selayang Hospital for treatment.

“Investigations papers have been opened under Section 31 (1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and Section 447/506 of the Penal Code,” he said.

Yesterday, FMT reported that among the claims made by children in the video recordings was that they were sodomised by the nephew of a married couple in charge of the home.

The couple denied the claims, saying the nephew could not have committed such acts.

“He was very strict with the kids, maybe that’s why they misunderstood him,” they told FMT.

But a woman who had stayed at the home for 10 days with her three-year-old daughter said the children told her they had been sodomised for the last few years.

They also told her they were forced to work for 15 hours each day, doing chores such as packaging anchovies for sale or folding ang paos (red packets).

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