Kind Surau Committee Helps Distressed Mother & Newborn With Nowhere Else To Go
When they first approached her to help, she appeared hesitant and looked like she might run away.
Cover image via Last Thursday night, 22 May, a young woman was found near Surau Madrasatul Huda in Alor Setar, Kedah. She was in a distressed state and had a newborn baby in her arms.
Image via Harian Metro
Pleading not to be turned away, the Indian woman was lent a helping hand by the surau's committee members, who invited her to seek refuge inside while they figured out how to support her.
The heartwarming incident was shared on TikTok by the surau's secretary, Shamsul Anuar Aziz, and received widespread praise online for the compassion shown, regardless of race or religion.
"It was around 8.35pm, we had just finished the Maghrib prayer. I was sitting outside when I saw an Indian woman slowly walking past the surau, holding a baby.
"The way she walked, the look on her face… she seemed scared, like someone in trouble. Her baby was only wrapped in a yellow towel, and she was carrying a plastic bag," Shamsul told Harian Metro in an interview after the incident went viral.
Recounting the incident, Shamsul described the woman as appearing hesitant, as though she might run away, when he first approached her to help
"But when she softly said, 'Please don't chase me away', my heart broke," he said, adding that, with the other surau committee members, they managed to persuade her to come inside for shelter.
He said the woman spoke very little, likely due to fear and trauma.
However, after some coaxing, she revealed that her husband was in prison, and she had been staying at a friend's house nearby but was forced to flee due to financial issues.
"She looked very young, probably in her early 20s, and her baby seemed like a newborn. She had no money, no place to go," Shamsul said.
Shamsul and other congregants bought baby formula, diapers, and food for the mother and baby, as well as gave them a place to rest at the surau
They eventually found out she had an older brother in Penang. With her permission, they got in touch with him and bought ETS train tickets for her and the baby to reunite with him that same night.
Although it was already 10.30pm, they made sure mother and child boarded the train safely from Alor Setar to Butterworth, where her brother was waiting.
"This is the first time something like this has happened at our surau. But I'm grateful we had the chance to help her. We don't look at race or religion, what matters is that she and her baby are safe," said Shamsul.
