She made headlines on all the major newspapers. She died yesterday. To her family, I don’t know you, but i’m truly sorry. Virtually the whole nation stands with you in your grief and your loss. But that’s no consolation, I know.
After being in a coma for 3 days, the woman who was dragged along the road when her handbag was snatched by robbers on motorcycles, passed away. She left behind her husband and two children, aged 3 and 4.
There was pity, shock, and outrage in my office today. There are too many snatch thieves around. Too many victims. One of our staff was slashed with a parang knife last week when robbers snatched her handbag. She didn’t even have a chance to comply. They didn’t ask, just started slashing. Another had her bag snatched across the road from our office building a few days ago. A colleague’s friend was slashed a while ago, she’s now in physical therapy to regain use of her hand. Another colleague’s friend got a faceful of pepper spray from men who were trying to steal his car, thank God he was wearing glasses. My sister saw an old woman robbed just outside my house by men on motorcycles. And this is in addition to those we see in the newspapers daily.
That woman was the second snatch-thief victim to die. I didn’t even know about the first one. My colleague pretty much summed up general sentiments when he said, “Ini orang, kalau tangkap, mesti hentam cukup-cukup…” (translation: if these people are caught, must whack the crap out of them). Not to undermine the capabilities of both Malaysian and Singaporean police (the thieves were riding a motorcycle with Singaporean number plates apparently), but I’ll bet the culprits are never caught. For the family, it’s too late anyway. A man has lost his wife, two children their mother. And to think all it took was a few seconds.
Makes you think twice about the fragility of life doesn’t it?
