Do something to halt violent crime, Hishammuddin urged

Do something to halt violent crime, Hishammuddin urged

November 05, 2012

Malaysian Insider

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — A pre-dawn robbery yesterday that resulted in the death of an elderly seamstress in Sabak Bernam is proof that criminals target all levels of society and not just the well-heeled, the DAP said today.

The opposition party urged Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (picture) to “do something to overcome and prevent crime”, which DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said is increasingly affecting the lives of all levels of society.

“Even though the crime rate is said to have dropped, the inhumane and cruel murder of a senior citizen in her own home is proof that such crimes do not only involve the upper class but also the lower class.

“And if the poor are not exempted from robbery and murder, therefore all Malaysians can be victims,” Lim said in a statement.

He was referring to the reported killing of 65-year-old Sadariah Tohbasar @ Ahmad by two masked robbers who broke into her house in Sabak Bernam, Selangor yesterday and punched her before smothering her to death with a pillow.

A former kindergarten teacher, Sadariah had been working as a seamstress and pastry maker to earn a living, state news agency Bernama had reported.

Her murder was witnessed by her 17-year-old grandson Mohd Hafizul Azwan Mohd Aznan, who had shared the same bedroom and was tied up by the two robbers.

“DAP hopes the authorities will take immediate action and not only act when a rich person or a titled person becomes a victim,” Lim said.

The government has had to defend itself from public criticism after a spate of crime incidents that seemed to contradict the image painted by its crime statistics.

The police and Home Ministry continue to stand by Putrajaya’s claim that the country’s crime rate has dipped considerably since initiatives under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) were put in place two years ago.

Hishammuddin had told Parliament in September that between January and August this year, 108,886 crimes were reported, with 101,313 of them being index crime and 7,573 non-index crime in backing up official figures showing a drop in serious crimes like homicide, arson, rape, burglary, theft or basically anything that is physically pursued by the person committing the crime.

He added that in comparison, a total of 229,997 crimes were reported last year, 252,844 in 2010, 271,831 in 2009, 271,004 in 2008 and 252,324 in 2007.

In Malaysia, the police divide crime into two categories, index and non-index — the former defined as crime that is reported with sufficient regularity and significance to be a meaningful indicator of the crime situation while the latter is regarded as minor in nature, such as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and negligent manslaughter.