KUALA LUMPUR: A 30-year old Taiwanese on holiday here was robbed, slashed and stripped on his second outing with a WeChat friend.
Kevin Chang, who arrived in Malaysia on July 15 to spend time with his Malaysian girlfriend in Bandar Sunway, took the opportunity to befriend another girl on WeChat.
Little did he know that his second outing with the new friend would leave him embarrassed, RM10,000 poorer, beaten and slashed, after allegedly being confronted by three assailants at an industrial area in Puchong last month.
Recalling the July 25 incident, Chang said he had befriended a girl by the name of Victoria through WeChat after he had fallen out with his girlfriend, known as only Wong.
Frustrated, he said he used the application to locate people nearby and became friends with the girl.
"We chatted a bit after the first day meet and then she called me out for a drink after a couple of days. She picked me up from my girlfriend's condo and brought me to a dark, isolated place in an industrial park somewhere in Puchong. Suddenly out of nowhere, three guys armed with razor blades, baseball bat and pepper spray entered the car and attacked me.
"Two of them sat behind and kept slashing me while another opened the door and sprayed the pepper spray at my face before they drag me out of the car and stripped me.
"I don't know where Victoria was the whole time I was being attacked but she had lodged a report as well," he said, when met at MCA Public Services and Complaints Department here today.
In the 1am attack, Chang said he was naked and bleeding profusely but he knew he had to save himself.
"I got help from an elderly man who gave me a towel and t-shirt to cover myself before we returned to the scene to look for Victoria but I only found my pants. I couldn't call anyone as well because my phone was also gone," Chang said, adding that he lodged a police report at Sunway after seeking treatment for his wounds. He ended up with 53 stitches.
He claimed that the whole incident seemed as if it had been orchestrated because later when he met Victoria at the station, she looked completely fine and her belongings was not taken by the group.
"This brought doubt in me and even her report is inconsistent. There are so many unanswered questions and doubts whether the incident was a set up," he said, asking police to conduct a thorough investigation into his case.
Chang said he has gone up and down the police station inquiring about his case many times but to no avail.
After all his efforts failed, he decided to seek Datuk Seri Michael Chong's help today. He was accompanied by his lawyer, CW Loh and Wong at the MCA headquarters.
Earlier Chang lodged an official complaint at the Taiwan Cultural Centre here but was referred to Republic of China Embassy since Taiwan does not have a consulate locally.
"This is the first time a robbery victim had been stripped after being robbed," Chong said adding that it could be a new modus operandi of sort.
On whether or not, Victoria could possibly be behind the attack, he said he will let the police investigate first.
Chong advised public to be careful while using social networks and to not easily trust anyone they meet through such channels.
"I don't see why a robber should strip his victim in a robbery. Could there be other motives for them to do that to the victim?" he said.