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.