PASTOR Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth Sitepu were troubled after receiving a phone call before they went missing, Grace Thangamalar told a Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) public inquiry today.

The daughter of Joshua’s friend, Peter Pormannan, said she heard from a Sabahan couple living with them temporarily Joshua argued with someone over the phone in 2016.

“The Sabahan said that it was a heated conservation. They told me they heard Joshua on the phone saying: ‘I didn’t disturb you, why are you disturbing me,” the inquiry heard today.

Grace is the second witness in the inquiry into the disappearance of Joshua, a Muslim convert, and Ruth.

Earlier today, insurance salesman Peter Pormannan told the inquiry panel that Joshua, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity, could have been sought by the religious authorities for his beliefs.

Grace and her brother had been living with the couple when she was studying in college from 2015 to 2017.

Apparently, Joshua had offered Peter’s children his home as a favour because he had helped him out before by offering him lodging in Klang.

Grace also told the inquiry that the police took her statement last week, four years after the incident.

The 27-year-old, who works as a logistics executive in Klang, said this was not the first incident with the couple.

“Another time, they left abruptly in their car. After a month, they called us and asked if anyone had called or if there was any disturbance,” she told the hearing.

Suhakam officers then asked Grace if she enquired why they went away for a month.

She said that Ruth told her that there was some threat and they had to leave immediately.

“It all happened when a family of four came to stay in his home, which was always open to all races and sometimes foreigners.”

Suhakam officers then asked if she was aware when they went missing and what was her reaction.

“We experienced this before, so we thought they would return.

“Then, after a month, I told my father about them going missing.”

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

Ruth’s siblings also lodged a police report on the couple’s disappearance in 2018.

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

While the family were aware of her disappearance in March 2017, they could not come to Malaysia because of financial constraints.

They last spoke to her in November 2016.

The inquiry was established to ascertain if Pastor Raymond Koh, Perlis activist Amri Che Mat, Joshua and Ruth were victims of enforced disappearance.

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. – February 18, 2020.