Malaysian court charges 22 people from cult group linked to child sex abuse scandal

A Malaysian court on Wednesday charged 22 people linked to a banned cult with being members of an organised crime group after allegations that the company they were from oversaw the systematic abuse of hundreds of children at its facilities.

Local media has reported that the group, which has business interests from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia and Turkey, was run under a strict hierarchy among its 5,000 members, with leaders dictating who they should marry and when couples could engage in intimate relations.

His wife Azura Md Yusof, 57, and Adib At-Tarmimi Ashaari, 32, the son of the late Islamic preacher Ashaari Mohamad, who was the group’s founder, were also charged at a court in Selayang town in Selangor.

All 22 accused pleaded not guilty.