KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — Off-duty policewoman Normaswanida Alias put her Muay Thai training to good use when she fought off a knife-wielding robber on Monday.

Despite being slashed in the neck, the 27-year-old lance/corporal delivered a series of kicks that sent the robber reeling.

The drama unfolded when Normaswanida was confronted by a man, believed to be in his 40s, when she checked on her car near her unit at Flat Sri Kedah, Taman Melati, at 7.45am.

“A man armed with a knife approached me and demanded my handphone and money,” she said at Kuala Lumpur Hospital yesterday.

The robber inflicted a cut on her neck after she refused to hand over her belongings. 

“I kicked him after he swung the knife at me,” Normaswanida said.

“He fell and I identified myself as a police officer. The man appeared angry and tried to slash me again.”

Normaswanida, a police administrative personnel, chased the fleeing robber for 200m despite being injured. The robber then took off on his motorcycle. An accomplice was waiting for him there on another bike.

Recalling the incident, Normaswanida said she was on leave on Monday and was planning to buy breakfast when the attack took place.

She spotted the accomplice who was 500m, who watched the whole incident without interfering.

“When the suspect and his friend fled on their motorcycles, I ran after them and tried to identify their number plates but they were too fast for me.”

Normaswanida managed to make her way back to her flat where she bumped into her brother who was leaving the building.

“My brother, Mohd Ikram Omar, rushed me to the nearby clinic as I was putting pressure on my wound to stop the bleeding. The doctor referred me to the hospital.”

Normaswanida’s husband, Mohd Hairi Omar, 23 said he was shocked when he received the news that his wife was slashed in a robbery attempt.

He said he was at work then and he rushed to the hospital.

Mohd Hairi said their three-year-old daughter Damia Christina is under the care of his mother while he took leave from work until his wife was up on her feet again.

Mohd Hairi, who is also a Muay Thai exponent, said he was glad he had the chance to teach his wife some basic self defence moves to defend herself.

“I hope police will apprehend the suspects who slashed my wife. Despite what had happened, I will support my wife with her duties as a police officer.”

Normaswanida currently serves at the Gombak Police Station district and she joined the force in 2009.

Wangsa Maju police chief ACP Roy Suhaimi Sariff said they have launched a manhunt for the duo and investigations were underway.

“Our men went to the scene where we found that there were no closed circuit television cameras in the area but we are tracking down the suspects,” he said.