Malikka seems to live in a recurring nightmare traumatised by the rape of her daughter, an assault on her young son and the murder of her husband, she now has to contend with threats to her life.

"The men came into my house, grabbed me by the throat and pointed a knife at me. They wanted me to call my cousin, if not they would kill me," Malikka told reporters today at the Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

According to her, the cousin was a material witness in her husband's murder. Parang-wielding men slashed him to death on Oct 31.

The police have repeatedly said that Malikka and her family would be protected. But she now suffered from a cut to her face, multiple cuts on both arms, and cuts on her belly dangerously close to her growing baby.

Malikka revealed only her first name in order to protect her identity.

"There were four men and they came crashing through my house door. They were armed with cutters," Malikka said, adding that she had just returned home from Deepavali celebrations.

Too late

According to her, the police were informed that she would be returning home at 11am that day, but there was no police personnel in sight when she did.

"The incident occurred at 3am in the morning. After calling the police, they arrived five minutes later to take down my statement, and they sent me to the hospital."

Malikka's eight-year-old child was kidnapped and raped on July 12 by five alleged gangsters, and following a police report made on the matter, the family faced constant harassment from the men.

Traumatised by the experience, the eight-year-old attempted suicide by swallowing pain-killers. Following this, another child in the family was abducted and assaulted.

The father, was believed to have been murdered as retribution for the police reports he lodged against the unidentified men. The police however have refuted this claim.

"The policemen would only come when the reporters or lawyers come," said Malikka pointing to her legal representative P Uthayakumar.

Gross inefficiency

Uthayakumar, who is also Prim secretary-general, accused the police of gross inefficiency and of being irresponsible.

"The police just don't care. I hold the deputy police chief, Jamil Johari, responsible for this incident and he should be resign immediately. Supt Osman Abu Bakar, the deputy police chief for the district, should also be suspended," Uthayakumar said.

He said, the family had lost confidence in the police, and they would be moving to an undisclosed location.

Meanwhile, in a letter to Uthayakumar dated Nov 8, Jamil said that the matter should be left to the police to investigate.