The 43 Malaysians rescued from a fraud syndicate in Peru owe their freedom to the identification of two of their number – and, partially, to a smartphone translation app.
It was one such app that helped them convey their situation to a neighbor after two victims scaled the wall of the compound where they were being held captive.
Moreover, the Peruvian police who raided the bungalow where they were being held had never encountered such a situation before, said Fenny Nuli, director of the foreign ministry’s Sarawak regional office.
It was because of the ministry’s efforts that the rescued Malaysians were classified as victims and never criminals, otherwise they’d have been imprisoned, she added.
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Fenny said the victims told her they were locked out, all of the windows were closed they usually didn’t know if it was day or night.
“So these two victims got out and managed to get to the neighbor’s house.
“However, it was difficult for them to communicate in English, so they communicated using a translation app.
“Right after that, the police arrived and approx [informed the Malaysian embassy] about the situation,” she said in an interview on Sarawak Television’s “Dialog” program on Thursday.
She added that of the 43 victims – 26 women and 17 men, mostly young people – 16 were from Sarawak.
She said some victims told her that the syndicate tasked them with calling Malaysians at night.
“So they slept during the day and worked at night to call fraud targets in Malaysia (where it was daytime).
“Two of them climbed the wall to save themselves because they couldn’t take it anymore.
“When the raid was carried out, the Peruvian police had never dealt with a case like this.
“So I explained to them (the police) what was happening and also worked closely with the prosecutor to keep the case confidential [the Malaysians] as victims.
“This is because if they were classified as criminals, they would be imprisoned in Peru,” she added.
In October, the ministry said in a press release that Peruvian police raided a house in La Molina, where the Malaysian victims were identified and rescued.
