THE Indonesian siblings of missing Pastor Joshua Hilmy’s wife Ruth Sitepu are expected today to take the stand at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) public inquiry.

Ram Ram Elisabeth, 44, and brother Iman Setiawan Sitepu, 39, flew to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to testify at the hearing.

They are expected to return to Nambiki, north Sumatera once they have completed their testimonies.

The Malaysian Insight had reported that Iman said the family was shocked to find that Ruth, who is Christian by birth, had gone missing despite being in constant contact with the family.

The last time the family had spoken to her was in November 2016, the same month she went missing.

Iman said Ruth used to call the family twice a month, but stop calling after November.

He added they only found out in March 2017 she had been missing, through a friend in Indonesia.

It was only in March 2018, the siblings managed to come to Malaysia to lodge a police report.

This was with the help of a church in Indonesia and Ruth’s friends who raised funds for the family.

The siblings said they felt lost without their sister.

They added they were desperate to find out the truth about their sister’s disappearance.

Last month, the siblings said they hoped Putrajaya would help find answers to the disappearance of Ruth and Joshua.

Suhakam had established the inquiry to determine if Joshua and Ruth were victims of enforced disappearance.

Little is known about the couple, who vanished from Petaling Jaya on November 30, 2016.

Yesterday, a witness told the public inquiry that Joshua and Ruth wanted to flee the country when the pastor started receiving “threatening” phone calls.

Selvakumar Peace John Harris had said Joshua could have received the calls beginning 2015 but he was not told who had made those alleged calls.

He also told the panel that after the threats, Joshua and Ruth wanted to flee the country but could not do so.

International human rights laws define enforced disappearance as when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organisation, or by a third party with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of a state or political organisation. – March 4, 2020.