FW: Another safety alert
Safety in Public Places
My 9 year old son was mugged yesterday in the washroom of KLCC Mosque.
My son was attending a 2 weeks holiday course at the KLCC Mosque from 8.00am-5.00pm Monday – Thursday. Yesterday (19/11/08) at around 11am, my son went to the Mosque’s washroom with 2 friends, both 8 year olds. A man with his face covered with some cloth, leaving only his eyes exposed, was waiting in the Mosque’s washroom. The man grabbed my son, held him in a hug and searched my son’s body for any precious items. Found a very old handphone in my son’s pocket, took that and thank god, let my son go. The 2 friends of my son were terrified when my son was grabbed and ran out of the toilet. As soon as my son was released, he ran back to his class located in the prayer area of the mosque and informed the teacher who then reported the incident to the Mosque’s security. The security guards apprehended a man later but was released as my son confirmed that he was not the criminal based on clothes and body size identification.
I am thankful that my son is safe, but the manner in which he was mugged totally freaked me. With the crime reported against children lately where children regardless of sex and age are molested, raped and even murdered in the most brutal ways, thank god all this guy wanted was the old handphone. It could have been worse if the man was a maniac!!!
What irks me was the lack of care and concern shown by the organiser of the holiday course that my son was attending. After the incident, my son was not accompanied back to the toilet to see if his phone or the man was still there, he in fact went with another 8 year old! And when the security guards caught a man whom they suspected to be the criminal, my son went alone with the security guards to identify the suspect. None of the facilitators or organisers accompanied him. No one even contacted me, the mother of a 9 year old child, to inform of the incident! I got to know of the incident from my son when I went to visit him at the Mosque during lunch. After the Nurin and Sharlinie and other missing kids cases, I’m surprised that these people could be so relaxed!! My son has since quit the course.
I have made an official report with KLCC Security and a police report at Dang Wangi station and I hope better security will be provided for that area.
As for parents and guardians, even adults, be careful going into public toilets, especially if the toilets are secluded and empty.
Do not assume the safety of a place based on the status only. Be alert always, and train your loved ones to be alert too.
