Women advised to stay alert at all times

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has advised women to stay alert and be prepared to defend themselves if threatened by criminals.

She said women should also avoid from being alone in public places, especially during the quiet hours of early morning and late night.

“Even though I think it’s not easy for self-defence if we don’t have anything with us, but we have to really learn a bit of selfdefence.

“As women, whenever we travel alone we have to take care of ourselves, we should not travel alone as much, especially when there are not many people around, it is risky, so we have to stay alert,” she said when met by reporters after officiating the Malaysia Urban Forum 2019 here, yesterday.

She was commenting on the incident involving a woman being violently assaulted and robbed in a lift at the Taman Mutiara Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, Cheras on Thursday. The 6.45am incident that was captured by the lift’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera has gone viral on the social media.

Based on the 55-second recording, the victim was punched and kicked several times by a man who reportedly was a local resident who also escaped with the victim’s belongings.

Dr Wan Azizah said more comprehensive monitoring at public transport stations should also be implemented to ensure greater safety for users.

“By right it should have constant monitoring especially with CCTV, as well as the control room ... at least there will be an immediate action (in the event of an undesirable incident),” she said. - Bernama