GEORGE TOWN: For 10 days, a foreign housewife had lived in fear for her life while enduring physical abuse from her kidnappers.
Being moved from one location to another, from Penang to Selangor, the 36-year-old saw no light at the end of the tunnel despite a ransom of RM50,750 having been paid. Her nightmare finally ended when the police came into the picture.
Penang police chief Comm Datuk Khaw Kok Chin said the victim had travelled to Malaysia with her husband, who occasionally visited Kuala Lumpur for business purposes. She was abducted on Sept 7 while holidaying here with three friends.
“Her friends were released unharmed midway while the victim was transported to a hideout in Paya Terubong before she was moved to a house in Butterworth.
“A few days later, the kidnappers took her to Selangor where they locked her up in various locations in Puchong and Shah Alam,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
Comm Khaw said the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of RM540,000. The husband paid RM50,750 in separate transactions on Sept 12 and 13, but after he failed to secure her release, he lodged a police report on Sept 15.
A joint operation by police from Penang and the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department was launched.
Comm Khaw said the victim was rescued from a house in Shah Alam two days later.
“She was very weak and with injuries all over her body. We believe she was chained, assaulted and tortured,” he added.
He said police arrested 14 people in several locations in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Perak between 6am and 10.30pm on the same day.
Initial investigation revealed that the mastermind, a 35-year-old Malaysian, is the business partner of the victim’s husband, who had failed to settle a debt.
