KUALA LUMPUR: A 36-year-old man was threatened with death by a human trafficking syndicate if his family failed to pay a ransom of RM30,000 to a human-trafficking syndicate.
The man's sister known as Aini, 37 from Langkawi said her brother was working as a technician and was offered RM5,000 to carry goods daily from Bangkok with another colleague.
However, she said the victim, believed to be in Myanmar, had called her on Nov 11 and told her that he had been beaten by the syndicate and asked her to save him.
"My brother said he was not even given any water. I advised him if he was forced to eat pork, to do so.
"The syndicate did not want my brother because he was Malay and asked for a ransom to be paid within a week," Aini said at a press conference organised by the Malaysian International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) on Wednesday (Nov 27).
"I am not certain if he will be released even if we pay the ransom," she added.
Meanwhile the brother of the victim's friend said his sibling was also deceived by the syndicate and tried to escape but was caught.
According to him the ransom was reduced from RM89,000 to RM30,000 as the brother was old and not good at using computers.
