Man Jumped Out Of A Bus After He Was Caught Molesting A Female Passenger
The incident happened on a bus that was heading to Batu Pahat, Johor.
By Samantha Khor — 02 May 2017, 01:58 PM
"I always thought I'm very careful when it comes to protecting myself, but I never thought this would happen to me."
In a Facebook post, a woman alleged that she was molested by a fellow passenger while on a bus heading to Batu Pahat, Johor. The post, published on Sunday, 30 April, has gone viral on social media with over 5,000 shares at the time of writing.
The woman, who'd been working in Singapore for more than three years and frequently travels home by herself, said that she was sleeping when she felt a hand on her breast
"At the beginning of the journey, I felt like someone was touching my waist," she wrote. She added in the police report that when she turned around, the man behind her quickly turned his head the other way.
"However, I have a habit of falling asleep while on the bus. That's when I realised someone was touching my breast."
To her shock, she found a man standing right next to her seat. When she demanded to know what he was doing, he insisted that he was "adjusting the air-con" and swore that he did not touch her.
"I opened my eyes and saw this guy standing right next to me. Then he panicked and ran back to his seat," she wrote.
"I immediately turned around and yelled, 'What are you doing?' He nervously replied that he was just adjusting the air-con. I pointed out that there was no need to stand up if he wanted to adjust the air-con, as he can do that just find while seated at his own seat. Why did he have to stand next to me?
He kept insisting and swearing that he did not touch me. I told him to stop talking. Whether he touched me or not, I'm bringing him to the police station with me. So I called my father to explain the situation and told him to stand by at the Batu Pahat Bus Terminal with my brother to apprehend this guy when we arrive."
Things took an intense turn when the suspect begged the bus driver to let him get off at the next rest stop. Fortunately, with some help from her fellow passengers, the woman managed to stop him from doing so.
... Until he jumped out of the emergency door.
The woman wrote that her alleged molester begged the bus driver to let him alight at the Ayer Hitam rest stop, claiming that his mother was waiting for him there. After explaining what happened to the bus driver and several other passengers, the bus driver agreed to not let him get off the bus. The suspect was ordered to go back to his seat so he couldn't escape.
Then, when the bus stopped at Pekan Parit Raja, he opened the pintu kecemasan (emergency door), jumped out, and tried to make a run for it. Fortunately, a female passenger and her male companion who'd just gotten off the bus saw what happened. They gave chase and eventually caught him.
Much to her chagrin, a passerby told them to "give him a chance" when they eventually caught the suspect
"I got angry when an uncle on a motorbike came over to ask what happened. I told him the guy molested me, and when I told him we're gonna bring the guy to the police station, he told me to give him a chance," she wrote.
"I retorted, what if this is your daughter being molested? Are you going to give him a chance then? He quietly walked away."
Even after they brought him to the police station, he kept trying to run away, despite repeated warnings from the police officer on duty. The policewoman eventually brought him into a lock-up.
"A reminder to all women - if you encounter something like this, don't just silently endure it. Don't get nervous or scared."
The 21-year-old further advised, "First thing you need to do, is let the passengers in the bus know about what just happened so the suspect cannot run away."
She added that witnesses should also do away with the "small matter" mindset and persuade victims to "let it go" when it comes to situations like this, as they did not experience it and hence, are not aware of the emotional impact it has on victims.