KUALA TERENGGANU: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hopes that incidents like the assault of a disabled man at Pasar Tani Padang Astaka Chukai, near Kemaman, last Friday (Jan 17), will not recur.
The Prime Minister’s political secretary, Datuk Azman Abidin, said that Anwar also hopes Malaysians would learn from the unfortunate incident involving disabled man Ahmad Nor Al Faizan Jusoh.
"What the Prime Minister fears is that such incidents might reflect poorly on our society. Firstly, people just watch as someone is beaten, and even worse, when a disabled person is assaulted in public. We do not want this to be the image of our society.
"It should not have happened. Malays are known to be patient people, so when something like this happens, it shows there is a problem in our society,” he told reporters after visiting Ahmad Nor Al Faizan at the Psychiatric Ward of Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital here on Tuesday (Jan 21).
He said the incident occurred due to a lack of patience among certain individuals, leading them to take matters into their own hands.
Azman spent about 30 minutes visiting Ahmad Nor Al Faizan and said that the mentally disabled man’s condition is now stable despite suffering injuries. He is expected to be discharged from the ward within a day or two.
Previously, a one-minute-52-second video went viral on social media, showing a man being beaten and dragged by several individuals at the Pasar Tani Padang Astaka Chukai.
According to the police, preliminary investigations revealed that the incident occurred when the 47-year-old victim rode a motorcycle into the farmers’ market area and accidentally hit a stall, causing its food items to fall.
So far, six men aged between 18 and 60 have been detained to assist with the investigation. – Bernama
