Indonesian rescued from baby 'factory'

Indonesian rescued from baby 'factory'

Agence France-Presse/ Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian police have rescued eight Indonesian women who said they were forced into prostitution by syndicates who denied them contraception in order to sell their babies, a report said on Friday.

The women, including two who were heavily pregnant, were rescued by police in a raid on an apartment building in a Kuala Lumpur suburb early Thursday following a tip-off, the Malay Mail said.

A 30-year-old suspect, believed to be one of the syndicate's ringleaders, was arrested in the operation, the paper said.

The women, aged between 20 and 30, told police that they were forced to entertain clients for 70-120 ringgit (US$19- $32) without using contraception by the syndicate, which wanted to get them pregnant.

They were made to continue working even when they were four months pregnant and beyond, it said.

The babies were sold for between 20,000 and 30,000 ringgit each to another gang, which is believed to have sold the babies on to Malaysians, the report said.

"At the moment, we do not know how many of them have had their babies sold," an unnamed police officer told the daily.

The women are believed to have been lured into Malaysia with offers of employment as maids. They said they were confined to the apartment and could not escape because they were under close watch.

The syndicate had been operating for the past 10 months, the report said.

In January, Malaysian police said they had arrested nine people in another baby-selling racket involving 27 Indonesian infants, whose mothers were paid to give up their babies.