Malaysian authorities rescued a five-year-old Filipino girl who had been forced to beg for nearly a month in Klang, Malaysia.

The police detained two suspects on Monday, 28 October — a 67-year-old Indonesian man with permanent residency in the country and a 50-year-old Malaysian woman on suspicion of child exploitation.

The arrests followed a raid conducted by the Malaysian Federal Criminal Investigation Department’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Division (ATIPSOM).

According to Senior Assistant Commissioner Soffian Santong, the initial operation took place at a residence in Jalan Goh Hock Huat, Klang, where officers arrested the male suspect.

The suspect then led authorities to another location in Sungai Kapar Indah, where the young girl was found under the care of the 50-year-old woman.

While initial investigation suggested that the woman looked after the girl and the man took her around to beg, authorities have yet to release information on the identity of the child.

Both suspects are being held under Section 14 of Malaysia’s ATIPSOM Act of 2007, as the investigation is ongoing.