PASIR GUDANG, April 16 — An innocent man suffered serious injuries after he was assaulted by a mob who had wrongly blamed him for an accident at a traffic light intersection near Taman Cendana in Seri Alam here today.
The victim, aged 19, whose Proton Wira was hit by a Honda EX5 motorcycle, sustained multiple injuries to his head, right leg, cheekbones in the 3.30pm incident.
He also suffered a broken nose, broken fingers and toes as a result of being beaten by a mob who had gathered at the Jalan Taman Cendana and Masai Kongkong intersection after the accident.
The assault took place after a group of men had assumed that the victim had crashed into the motorcyclists.
The victim is currently receiving treatment at the Columbia Hospital for his injuries.
Seri Alam district police chief Superintendent Mohd Sohaimi Ishak said the victim’s car was in fact hit by a 38-year-old female motorcyclist who was coming from Jalan Kota Masai towards Jalan Scientex.
He said the motorcyclist did not have time to brake and hit the victim’s car that was coming from Taman Cendana and was about to turn right towards Jalan Kota Masai.
“The motorcyclist suffered severe injuries to his head, legs and hands and is receiving treatment at the Sultan Ismail Hospital while the car driver initially did not suffer any injuries from the accident.
“However, the car driver later suffered multiple injuries as a result of being beaten by the mob who thought the victim had caused the accident,” said Mohd Sohaimi in a statement issued here tonight.
Earlier, two short video clips of the incident showed a large mob gathering and assaulting the car driver at the traffic light intersection.
Mohd Sohaimi said police have classified the accident and are investigating it under Section 43 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
However, he said police have also opened an investigation paper under Section 148 of the Penal Code for rioting and using dangerous weapons to cause injuries following the actions of the passers-by who assaulted the driver of the car and several other victims.
“We (police) will track down and arrest the perpetrators involved,” he said, adding that the public is advised to refrain from acting on their own and let police investigate such matters in accordance with existing laws.
