Dazed and bloodied: The victim lying on the floor of a 24-hour convenience store in Bukit Baru as Melaka police investigate the robbery in the early hours of Saturday morning. — Photo courtesy of Melaka police
MELAKA: Stronger safety measures are needed to protect workers at 24-hour convenience stores, says the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF).
Its Melaka chapter chairman, Kapt (PA) Edison Chan, made this statement following two violent late-night robberies at two such outlets over the weekend.
He said employers must have proper mechanisms to ensure employee safety, particularly for workers on graveyard shifts who are becoming increasingly vulnerable to violent crimes.
“I received an image from Melaka police showing a 20-year-old convenience store worker lying dazed and bloodied after being bludgeoned with a baseball bat during a robbery,” he said yesterday.
Chan said the image, shared to raise public awareness, highlighted the dangers faced by night-shift employees at 24-hour convenience stores.
The male worker, from Taman Bunga Raya in Bukit Beruang, was on duty at a convenience store in Taman Sin Hoe, Bukit Baru, when he was attacked by a lone assailant at about 4.40am, early Saturday morning.
Melaka Tengah police chief Asst Comm Christopher Patit said that a man, believed to be a delivery rider, entered the premises wearing a helmet and face mask.
“He approached the counter pretending to ask for an RM50 e-wallet top-up before suddenly grabbing cash from the drawer,” he said.
ACP Patit said the worker resisted when the robber seized RM300, prompting the attack on his head with the use of the baseball bat.
“The victim was rushed to Hospital Melaka with head injuries. His condition is reported to be stable,” he added.
ACP Patit said the incident came to light after the store’s supervisor found the worker on the floor.
He said the robber is believed to be responsible for a second attempted robbery later that day at another 24-hour outlet in Taman Saujana Puri in Bukit Katil.
In that incident, he said the robber used the same tactic by pretending to request an e-wallet top-up.
“When the worker was about to return the change, the robber got to the cash till and struck the worker’s wrist with a camera tripod when the latter tried to stop him,” he said, adding that the robber then fled the scene on a motorcycle.
He said both cases were being investigated under Section 394 of the Penal Code for causing hurt in the course of committing robbery.
“We have obtained the suspect’s fingerprint from one of the locations and are confident of making an arrest soon,” he added.
