A 15-year-old girl from Malaysia has been missing for six months and is believed to be held against her will overseas, either in Cambodia or Laos.
On 2 Sep, her grandmother, Wang Yuying – name transliterated from Chinese – held a press conference seeking her granddaughter’s whereabouts.
Oriental Daily reports Madam Wang as saying that Xu Huixin left her home in Kedah on 21 Feb, and has not been seen since.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
In June, she apparently contacted her father asking for help, but there’s been no news of her since.
According to Madam Wang, Ms Xu had apparently left home in a white car at 11am on 21 Feb.
Madam Wang only found out about this at 1am the day after, when she knocked on the door asking her to come outside for a late-night snack.
She found that the lights were on, but the room was empty.
After checking her neighbour’s CCTV, Madam Wang found out that her granddaughter had left the house the day before, carrying only a photocopy of her ID and her phone.
It wasn’t the first time that Ms Xu had left home without informing her loved ones.
In September last year, she’d expressed her wish to work in Penang, but Madam Wang persuaded her not to as she was still studying. Then on 14 Feb, she left home but returned three days later.
Madam Wang had reported the case but dismissed it later, though she said she’d taken the house key away as she was afraid that Ms Xu would leave without informing her again.
But that was exactly what she did on 21 Feb, and Madam Wang had no idea she’d even taken her house key, as their rooms were on opposite sides.
“I didn’t expect her to leave for half a year,” she said.
On 9 Jun, Ms Xu reportedly told a friend through Facebook that she was in Laos and that she needed a “redemption fee” of S$60,976.95 (RM194,763) to leave.
Source: Oriental Daily
She also expressed her fear that she might be sold elsewhere. Ms Xu’s father told Oriental Daily that on 9 and 21 Jun, he’d received two distress messages from her, saying she was in Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
In a video call on 9 Jun, Ms Xu said she was confined to a house and only given one meal a day after trying to escape.
She also claimed to hear women being beaten up in adjourning rooms, although she did not say if she was abused.
Unfortunately, after 21 Jun, I could no longer contact her.
Someone claiming to be her “boss” also contacted him in March, saying that he could rest assured as she was working for them. However, the person became uncontactable after that.
Because of these discrepancies, the family hasn’t been able to ascertain if she is in Cambodia or Laos.
Ong Seong Lu, the leader of the Malaysian United Party, said he is assisting the family in the case and working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also warned others to be vigilant to avoid being duped by fake job offers overseas.
Since 2018, more than 100 Malaysians in Cambodia have been rescued from scam syndicates. However, not all of them were kidnapped — some of them ran away from home or owed money to loansharks, Malaysian Ambassador to Cambodia Eldeen Husaini Mohd Hashim said.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News and Oriental Daily.
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