Man with cleaver fined RM2,000 for beating up woman

A 58-year-old restaurant operator has been fined RM2,000 for beating up a woman who purportedly honked at his car in an incident that has gone viral on social media.

Cheras district police chief Mohamed Mokhsein Mohamed said the man was arrested on the day of the incident on Dec 16 and was charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code. The incident had occurred at the parking area of a condominium at Desa Petaling.

He said the man pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to the 27-year-old victim, and was slapped with the fine.

For the record, the maximum penalty for the charge is up to one years’ imprisonment, a fine up to RM2,000, or both.

“The case is believed to have been caused by a misunderstanding between the victim and the suspect,” Mokhsein added.

He also denied allegations circulating on social media that the man was a ‘Datuk’.

Meanwhile, a Facebook account with the handle ‘Snow Kwong’ shared what is purported to be the assault survivor’s first-hand account of the incident.

The survivor said the incident took place at the Amandesa Resort Condominium on Wednesday at about 8pm.

She claimed the perpetrator’s car was obstructing traffic towards the condominium’s car park where she was headed, so after waiting a few minutes, she sounded her car horn.

The dark blue Mercedes Benz finally moved and she could reach her parking lot.

As she was walking towards the lobby after locking her car, however, she claimed the perpetrator confronted her and asked if she was the one who honked at her. She said yes and explained she had waited for a long time for the perpetrator’s car to move.

“Without warning, he grabbed my hair and continuously punched me on the head and face.

“I was terrified and ran behind a car to hide as I was alone and defenceless. I was much smaller in size and strength compared to him who is more than a foot taller than me […]

“Due to the beating, my mouth and gums were bleeding badly as I'm on braces. The impact of those punches on my head gave me a massive headache and swells, I am worried that I may suffer from a concussion from those beating,” she was quoted as saying.

At this juncture, she said her father rushed to the scene and she called for the police, while the perpetrator returned with a chopping knife strapped to his back along with his two sons.

She said an eyewitness was able to take a picture of the weapon, which was also shared on social media.

When her father questioned the perpetrator for the reason for the beating, the man supposedly retorted, “She deserves the beating/punching because she honked at him.”

The man then tried to renew his assault but was held back by his two sons.

When the police arrived, she said he had either thrown away or hidden the knife before he was arrested.

After lodging a police report, she said she was instructed by the police to obtain a body examination report from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. This cost her RM50.

When she arrived home at 2am after all the necessary documentation and treatment were done, she said her mother told her that the perpetrator’s son had apologised and pleaded them not to press charges against her father because he was stressed.

“Does that mean that anyone is allowed to treat others like a punching bag if he was stressed? What if the police didn’t arrive on time?

“What would he have done with the chopping knife which he hid behind his waist? Was he going to chop me into pieces because he was stressed?

“If I lose my life, does that mean an apology from the sons accommodate the loss of my parents for my death?” she questioned.

Malaysiakini is contacting the survivor for more details. - Mkini