ABDUCTION FOILED Father chases man who tried to abduct his daughter in restaurant and helps police arrest suspect
Father chases man who tried to abduct his daughter in restaurant and helps police arrest suspect
What was supposed to be an enjoyable family outing nearly turned into a nightmare for telecommunication company project manager Saifuddin Abu Samah on Saturday night.
He had taken his wife and four daughters out for dinner to a restaurant in Taman Melati Utama, near Wangsa Maju.
There a man tried to abduct his 6-year-old daughter, Nur Farihah.
Saifuddin, 37, said they were walking towards their car parked just 70m from the restaurant, at 8.40pm, when the incident happened.
"I was walking in front with two of my older daughters, aged 12 and 10, carrying the fourth daughter, aged 4, while Farihah, my third daughter, who I thought was walking with my wife, was actually still in the restaurant.
"They were behind because my wife had to pick up the newspaper, which we had left in the restaurant. Farihah was, at that time, fiddling with her toy, a couple of feet from my wife, when the guy approached, with his hands ready to grab her." he told the New Straits Times at his house in Setapak yesterday.
When Saifuddin's wife, Rohani Abdul Rauf, 37, saw this, she instantly called out her daughter's name. Both Farihah and the man turned to her.
The man then tried to act "normal" and started walking away, passing Saifuddin.
Only in the car did she tell Saifuddin what had happened and her husband took it upon himself to find the man.
Saifuddin, realising the man was still there, circled the area three times before he spotted him at a Petronas station nearby.
He made a call to the Wangsa Maju police station chief, Chief Inspector Mispani Hamdan, who is part of the Voluntary Patrolling Scheme (Skim Rondaan Sukarela-SRS) in Setapak, a community policing programme that conducts a patrol every fortnight -- where Saifuddin is a participant.
Mispani asked him to follow the man, saying that he would send policemen there. Saifuddin kept following the man as he walked to an Esso station, 100m away.
Saifuddin parked his car there and continued trailing him on foot to Kampung Setia Jaya, when three policemen arrived in a Proton Waja. Two of them joined him and they walked another 100m before detaining the man under a bridge at Block F of the Taman Melati Utama flats.
"I asked him where he was just now. He denied being at the restaurant area. I was furious and kept asking, then he admitted that he was there and had wanted to buy a top-up coupon for his phone," said Saifuddin.
Saifuddin was relieved that he had managed to protect his daughter and kept his family safe.
"I don't know what I would have done, if I had lost her (Farihah)."
Sentul police chief Assistant Commissioner of Police Zakaria Pagan said the suspect was a 33-year-old Cambodian, who had been working legally in Malaysia for almost 10 years.
Zakaria praised Rohani for her quick reaction, and said her vigilance had not given the man the chance to do anything to Farihah.
He advised parents to always be watchful over their children.
Police are also checking on information that the suspect had an accomplice, who was allegedly waiting in a yellow Proton Wira.
Those with any information are urged to contact Sentul police at 03 4042 2222.
