March 14, 2017

Kampar, March 12 –  Snatch theft is one of the most commonly reported crimes in the country whereby defenceless women and students, most of the time, easily fall victim to snatch thieves.

 

A 20-year-old private college student was walking to her car barely 500 meter away from Tesco’s main entrance, with two of her friends being robbed by an Indian man when a motorcycle at almost full throttle came to her from behind and nabbed her handbag from right.

 

Loh Kai Shin, who is also a Taekwondo learner, was totally shocked by the suddenness of the incident and could only watch helplessly as the robber became a blur in the distance, while her mind went completely blank in the heat of the moment.

 

“I never thought that such incident would ever happen to me but it did on that day.

 

There was only an umbrella with me that I had under my left arm and I just threw it at the escaping robber,” said Loh.

 

However, she had been fortunate to escape from more serious injury because the suspect’s attempt to grab her handbag merely caused her suffering from some minimal injuries as the snatch thief quickly left the crime scene with her handbag.

 

The incident occurred on last Sunday when Loh was on her way walk to her car after having dinner with her friends at Sushi King in Tesco, but she was then attacked from behind by a snatch thief riding a motorcycle.

 

“It was a narrow road with cars double-parked left and right. As three of us walked to our car, an Indian man riding his bike came up to me.

 

For a split second, I felt my bag was suddenly swung up and it was being pulled away by the snatch thief.”

 

“Before I could aware of what was going on, it was already slid off my shoulder and was then out of my sight as he speeding off the crime scene.

 

I realize that even a martial arts fighter would also find helpless if caught unaware like me,” she added.

 

Loh who was accompanied by her another two friends then went to nearby police station in Kampar to make a police report right after the incident occurred.

 

“If asking any friend whether they have suffered a similar fate and I could guarantee you that the majority would have experience either fallen prey to or know someone who has been a victim of snatch thieves.

 

So, I hope the authority will curb the problem effectively so that such crimes like snatch thefts would not go far worse,” she said.

 

While many of the victims are left with a sense of helplessness, Loh advised us that do not have valuable items on display and should be alert to the goings-on around.

 

For more information, please visit UTAR official website to learn more about safety precautions provided by Department of Student Affairs (DSA).