IT was at 5.22pm on Sunday and I was alone, walking towards my boyfriend’s car in level B2 of The Curve, Mutiara Damansara.
He was not in town, and I was running errands with his car.
Just as I was putting my shopping bags in the rear seat, the rear car door was slammed against my back, and a meat cleaver was pressed against my throat.
A man covered my mouth with his hand, and whispered not to scream.
He then shoved me onto the floor of the backseat of the car and waved the cleaver at me, reminding me not to scream.
He was skinny, wearing a baggy turquoise blue t-shirt, had a thick mustache and short curly hair, approximately 5’8, in his mid-30s.
At this moment, a second man appeared. He was also in his mid-30s.
He grabbed my car keys and demanded for my parking ticket.
I couldn’t remember where it was.
I told them they could take everything, just let me go.
But at that point they didn’t even ask for money. Instead, one of them started to make sexual advances.
Then it hit me. I’m being kidnapped.. and I think I know what they want.”
From this moment on, there were a few crucial things that happened that I think is the reason I’m alive today.
1. I managed to get into a position to escape When they got into the car, one of the man tried to force my body down onto the floor.
I knew that the moment I’m on the floor, there would be no chance of escape.
So I begged him to let me sit up. I promised him
I wouldn’t scream or alert anyone’s attention.
Thankfully, he trusted me, and let me sit up, gripping my arm tightly.
2. I did not fight for the sake of fighting
I was in an enclosed space, with no clear escape route.
I would never win in a fight with these two men, especially when they have sharp weapons.
Had I fought from the get go, I may not have been in a position to escape.
3. I was lucky and sneaky
I knew that the only way to escape, was to jump out of the car, even if it was moving.
They had locked the car doors. So I leaned back, pretended to scratch my hair, and shakily unlocked the door I was leaning against.
4. I went ‘crazy’ at the right time.
I knew that the car would have to slow down outside the parking lot, as it exits to merge with the main roads.
The moment it slowed down, I opened the car door and tried to make a run for it. I failed.
I kicked my legs out of the car, but one of them managed to pull my body back in. At that point I remember thinking, “Even if I don’t get out now, I need to keep the door open and my legs out the door. At the very least, it should cause a scene, and someone would see me”.
My right foot pushed against the wide-open car door to keep it open.
I recall elbowing, kicking, and even biting them. I lost my glasses, and was struggling blindly for my life.
At some point the driver yelled, “Bagi dia lepas! Bagi dia lepas!” (Let her go! Let her go!) and the other man loosened his grip.
I made a jump out of the still-moving car, and ran for my life.
I ran towards a Maybank outlet at the Curve.
There were plenty of people around.
I screamed for help over and over again. I was hysterical.
I grabbed an a man by his shoulders and begged for help before practically collapsing at his feet.
I found out later that the entire ordeal from the moment I left the parking ticket payment machine, to my escape, happened in about 4 minutes.
To me, it felt like one long nightmare.
I want to share this story with everyone because the police tell me that they rarely get to hear it from someone who escapes.
