KUALA PILAH, The Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Department (JHEAINS) has sealed two houses being used as an unregistered madrasah housing 40 male children aged between 10 and 12 years old, located in a village near here.

JHEAINS Enforcement Unit head, Ahmad Zaki Hamzah said the action was taken following reports of alleged sexual misconduct involving residents of the facility, with inspections conducted at the premises on Sept 6.

He said that JHEAINS also confiscated several learning tools used at the madrasah to aid in the investigation, and that all the children have been handed over to the Social Welfare Department (JKM) for further action.

‘Investigations revealed that the madrasah was not registered with JHEAINS to conduct Islamic religious education activities under the provisions of the Islamic Religious Schools (Negeri Sembilan) Control Enactment 1996,’ he told reporters here today.

He explained that the madrasah had applied for registration with JHEAINS on June 16, 2023, but the application w
as not approved due to failure to meet the required conditions.

Ahmad Zaki added that a reminder notice was also issued to the madrasah to comply with the registration requirements before the deadline of April 30.

Describing the condition of the houses, he said they had three rooms and two bathrooms, which were used for study, prayer, eating, and sleeping purposes for the residents.

However, he said no beds were provided, instead, there were only a few thin mattresses used by the students for sleeping, making the environment unsuitable for a madrasah due to its unfit conditions for children.

Meanwhile, JHEAINS director Mohd Asri Abdullah said that the closure of the madrasah was to allow further investigation under Section 25c of the Islamic Religious Schools (Negeri Sembilan) Control Enactment 1996.

He added that the investigation is ongoing by the JHEAINS Enforcement Division under Section 22 of the same Enactment.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency