KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 21, 2011): A woman bravely took the place of her daughter and allowed herself to be held with a sword to her neck in hostage drama which stretched over eight hours today.
The 43-year-old woman did not hesitate to put her own life in the hands of a man who had earlier abducted her 24-year-old outside their house.
The daughter had been confronted by the man armed with a machete when she stepped out of her white BMW upon returning to their Gombak home about 2.30am.
Her mother, a businesswoman, saw her being forced into the back seat and driven away by the man, said to be a money lender who is known to the family.
The frantic mother called Gombak police who despatched a team to investigate.
Several hours later, the abducted daughter managed to call her mother from her handphone to say she was confined in her abductor’s house at Taman Bukit Cheras.
Dozens of police personnel immediately traced the location and surrounded the house of the 32-year-old suspect, who it turned out, was being sought by police in connection with a rape case in Kajang a few months ago.
When the victim’s mother rushed over, she found the man holding a sword to her daughter’s neck at her car which had been blocked by police vehicles.
“I rushed over and told him I was prepared to exchange myself in return for the release of my daughter. He agreed and then took me hostage,” the businesswoman, who declined to be identified, told reporters who approached her at the Alam Damai police station later.
“He held a parang to my neck for the next four hours and police tried to talk him into giving up throughout the time,” she said.
It was negotiations with the suspect by a team of police personnel led by Cheras police chief ACP Mohan Singh Tara Singh that saved the day when the man finally released the businesswoman and gave himself up at about 10.30am.
Mohan Singh told a press conference later that when the suspect found police had surrounded his house, he held the younger woman at parang-point and stepped out of the house, with another man who lives in the same house.
He said the suspect forced the woman into the BMW and ordered his 21-year-old accomplice to take over the wheels of the car.
Mohan Singh said the suspect tried to escape from the place but the BMW was blocked by several police cars.
At this point, the victim’s mother rushed over to the car and pleaded with the abductor to let her exchange places with her daughter.
The abductor agreed and freed the younger woman, grabbing the mother and holding a sword to her neck, for the rest of the four-hour standoff.
Mohan Singh said police arrested the suspect and his housemate, and on searching their house found three parangs, a sword, a pair of handcuffs and several fake pump-action rifles.
“The suspect made demands. He wanted us to clear our patrol cars and give him way to drive off. He was slightly injured in the neck by his own sword and we sent him to the hospital for treatment,” he said.
The case is being investigated for abduction, wrongful confinement and possession of weapons.
Initial police investigations revealed that the abduction arose from a romantic fallout between the man and another member of the family.
