MOTHER APPEALS FOR DAUGHTER'S RESCUE FROM HUMAN TRAFFICKING SYNDICATE

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 (Bernama) -- A mother is urgently pleading for help to rescue her 24-year-old daughter, who is believed to be a victim of a human trafficking syndicate in Cambodia since June.

The woman, identified only as Radiah, 56, explained that her daughter had flown from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur on June 19 after she and her friend were offered jobs as restaurant assistants for four months.

Radiah, from Kuching, Sarawak, said her daughter, a single mother, called her upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur but lost contact soon after. On Nov 19, Radiah received a video call from her daughter, saying she was trapped in Cambodia.

"She told me she had been beaten, locked in a toilet for a week, deprived of food, and only given tap water to drink. She begged for help, saying she was badly beaten, and her legs were swollen. She was very weak from drinking only tap water.

“I am desperately pleading for help to save my daughter," Radiah said, breaking down in tears during a press conference organised by the Malaysian Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) today.

Also present was the MHO secretary-general, Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim.

Radiah said she did not know how her daughter ended up in Cambodia, as she believed she was still in Kuala Lumpur after accepting a job offer there.

Radiah had filed a police report last Friday at the Kuching District Police Headquarters.

 Meanwhile, Hishamuddin highlighted that human trafficking crimes are becoming more prevalent across Southeast Asia. 

"There needs to be decisive and concrete action from ASEAN countries, such as conducting cross-border investigations, to apply pressure on countries still involved in human trafficking crimes," he emphasised. 

-- BERNAMA