KUALA TERENGGANU: An 81-year-old woman claimed that her daughter suffers from severe depression and has to rely on medication due to years of neglect while she was involved with the Al-Arqam movement.
Christine Rohani Longuet, a Frenchwoman, also shared that her grandchildren experienced years of trauma stemming from neglect during their time under the influence of the movement, which they had managed to escape in the 1980s.
As reported by Kosmo!, Longuet said she had decided to rescue her daughter and grandchildren from the movement while they were living in an Al-Arqam commune in Sungai Penchala, Selangor.
"I noticed something was wrong with the family system practiced by the movement.
"I couldn't stand seeing my daughter and grandchildren neglected. Thankfully, they were able to leave the movement with government assistance," she said during an interview at her residence in Pulau Duyong yesterday.
Longuet's granddaughter Sabrina Bolivar, had earlier spoken out on social media about her experience living in the movement as a child.
She said Sabrina's claims were true and not fabricated.
"I brought my daughter and grandchildren to live with me and my late husband (Wan Othman Wan Abdullah) on Pulau Duyong.
"Alhamdulillah, all my grandchildren received a proper education and are now living happy lives with their own families," she said.
She emphasised that all neglect experienced by children and women, like that faced by her daughter and grandchildren, must be stopped immediately, and they should be given the choice to live freely like ordinary individuals.
"Those responsible for the oppression must face appropriate punishment," she added.
In a series of TikTok videos, Sabrina revealed that her mother had been influenced by an ustazah to join the Al-Arqam movement, even leaving her medical studies at a local university.
Sabrina, who resides in Paris, is Longuet's eldest granddaughter.
She said her mother was married to two Al-Arqam members. The first marriage had lasted for only six months before she was persuaded to marry one of the highest-ranking members of Al-Arqam, who already had three wives.
Sabrina said her mother was the man's fourth wife, and she was bullied by the other wives, including being tasked with taking care of her stepchildren.
"When she was pregnant with her first child, no one cared for her during confinement, leading to postpartum depression that she still struggles with today and requires medication," she said.
Longuet is a talented shipmaker who has made Pulau Duyong in Terengganu her home. She travelled to Malaysia in 1971 and has since settled down here, after marrying a local man.