Malaysians told to 'whack' snatch thieves after Indonesian's death
A Malaysian lawmaker has urged the public to help catch snatch thieves and "whack them blue black" after an incident that led to the death of an Indonesian woman.
But a non-governmental organisation protested today, saying violence was not the solution and could affect Malaysia's tourism image.
Kee Phaik Cheen, who heads the culture, arts, tourism and women committee on the northern island of Penang, has urged Penangites to give snatch thieves a good beating to teach them a lesson.
The call followed the recent death of a 62-year-old Indonesian woman who fell and hit her head after her handbag was snatched by a thief in the city, a popular tourism spot.
"We must kah si (the Hokkien dialect term for teach) these snatch thieves by whacking them blue black before handing them over to the police," Kee said.
"We must put a stop to snatch thieves which kick sand into our tourism rice bowl."
Violence not the answer
But Women's Aid Organisation president Meera Samather criticised Kee for asking the public to take the law into their own hands.
"Using violence is definitely not the answer and responding to crime in any form of violent behaviour will not enhance tourism... we cannot take the law into our own hands," she told the Sunday Star .
She said vigilance and perhaps "civilian arrest with the use of reasonable force" were better ways of curbing the problem. — AFP
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