SUHAKAM will decide soon if it will go ahead and hold a public inquiry into the disappearance of Joshua and Ruth Hilmy, the couple who disappeared without a trace in 2016, said its chairman, Othman Hashim.

The public inquiry into the missing couple was supposed to start soon after the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia had completed its probe into the disappearance of pastor Raymond Koh and Perlis Hope founder Amri Che Mat.

In Koh and Amri’s case, both activists’ families pushed the authorities all the way for answers until the inquiry revealed that the men were allegedly abducted by Special Branch personnel at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.

Koh went missing in February 2017 and Amri in November 2016.

Othman told The Malaysian Insight it is a different scenario in the case of Joshua and Ruth, both who were said to be pastors.

“We will try to contact their families. Very little is known about this couple,” he said.

“Their file is still open. We are conducting our investigations and trying to gather information on the couple.

“We will then decide if there is a need for an inquiry into their disappearance.”

Suhakam is trying to ascertain if Joshua and Ruth are victims of enforced disappearance.

“Enforced disappearance” is defined as a person secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organisation, or by a third party with the authorisation of a state or political organisation, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person’s fate and whereabouts.

It was reported that Joshua was a Muslim who converted to Christianity while his wife, Ruth, was a Christian from Indonesia.

Their disappearance was brought to light in 2017 when the couple’s friend, Peter Pormannan from Klang, lodged a missing person’s report. He said he first met Joshua and Ruth in 2012.

Pormannan allowed them to stay in his mother-in-law’s house for a year in Klang until the end of 2013.

Joshua and Ruth then moved into a single-storey house at Kg Tunku in Petaling Jaya.

Pormannan, who is the only person to date to speak up for the couple, said Joshua revealed little about his background and that he last saw the couple in September 2016 at their home in Petaling Jaya.

After several months of not hearing from the couple, he lodged a police report at the Klang Selatan police station in March 2017.

Three weeks later, police recorded Pormannan’s statement.

He also took police to the couple’s house and was surprised to see that the Christmas tree was still up and all their clothes in the bedroom.

In March 2018, two of Ruth’s siblings from Indonesia came to Kuala Lumpur to lodge a police report after they lost contact with her.

Othman said Suhakam officers are currently carrying out investigations and they are looking for witnesses but it is not easy.

“We expect to make a decision soon on whether to have the inquiry before year-end.” – September 19, 2019.