POLICE did not come across any baptism activities conducted by missing pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth Sitepu during their investigations, the Suhakam public inquiry heard today. 

ASP Zulfadhly Yacob, who is a former investigating officer for the missing couple’s case, said that during the course of his investigation, he found no indication of such activities. 

“My investigations didn’t lead in that direction (investigating baptism activities),” he told the Suhakam panel.

Zulfadhly was replying to Suhakam chief commissioner Hishamudin Yunus, who asked if he found any evidence of baptism activities being carried out at the couple’s home in Kampung Tunku during the course of his investigation.  

The officer, who is currently attached to the Ampang district police station, said that his duty was to focus on missing persons. 

“I don’t have any leads on any baptisms,” Zulfadhly told the panel.

In January, witness Iqbal Mirza Mohd Jalaluddin told the Suhakam panel that he was unknowingly baptised when he sought spiritual treatment from Joshua.

Iqbal said that he and his wife Fadzlina Amran were introduced to Joshua by a friend in January 2015 after the couple fell “spiritually ill” following their marriage in 2001. 

Iqbal told the panel that he and his wife shared their problems to Joshua, after which the pastor decided to bathe them.

Iqbal recalled that Joshua had read a few verses during this time and that the name “Jesus” was also mentioned. 

Zulfadhly said based on the statements that he took from the witness Iqbal, he and his wife only met Joshua for “traditional treatment”.

Lawyer Philip Koh, who represent Ruth’s family, asked Zulfadhly what Iqbal and his wife described of the treatment and if they mentioned being baptised or whether any holy words were uttered. 

Zulfadhly said that he could not recall what had transpired without referring to the investigation papers. 

Koh then asked Zulfadhly if he had any theories on the couple’s disappearance: “Did they disappear or where they disappeared? Did you find any traits that they were proselytising?” 

Zulfadhly said that he was merely tasked with investigating their disappearance. 

“We follow all (procedures) to trace missing persons. So, only once we have concluded investigations, then we could come up with some theories,” he said.

In 2018, two years after the disappearance of Joshua and his wife Ruth, Ruth’s siblings lodged a missing person’s report. 

Ruth’s family is from the fishing village of Nambiki in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. 

The Suhakam panel is chaired by Hishamudin and assisted by commissioners Jerald Joseph and Madeline Berma.

Previously, another Suhakam panel held similar inquiries into the disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat. 

After exhaustive investigations, the panel concluded that the special branch department from the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman was responsible for the disappearance of Koh, a Christian pastor, and Amri, a Muslim social activist. 

No one has been charged with the abduction of the two missing individuals. 

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. – August 18, 2021.