Malaysians have an affinity for malls and it’s not surprising that we have so many malls here! It is also safe to say that some of our friends consider malls their second home because they simply love spending their free time there.
However comfortable it is, malls are still public places and a lot of unfortunate things can happen there. A Malaysian lady, SK shared with WORLD OF BUZZ about her recent experience in a mall in Kuala Lumpur that turned into a horror story.
SK says that she always frequents a specific mall to do her work at the cafes located there. On Monday (2nd December) at about 9pm, she experienced something that was downright terrifying.
SK was on the third floor of the mall going into the toilet when she saw a woman with a flushed face. Sensing something was wrong, she asked the woman what was the problem. The woman then told her that they saw a man enter the women’s toilet and tried to peek at her from the space between the toilet stall and floor. The woman then warned SK to not use the toilets on this floor. SK asked the victim to report the incident to the security office at the mall.
Heeding the advice, SK then went down to the first floor and used a toilet there. Just to be safe, she checked the empty stalls to make sure that there are no peeping Toms around and saw that there was only one occupied stall. When the coast was clear, she went into a stall to relieve herself. As she was looking in front, she saw a suspicious shadow of a head moving closer and closer to the ground and then- she saw a man’s hand.
Source: Unexpected
She pulled up her pants and screamed at the top of her lungs before opening the door of the stall. However, at that time, the peeping Tom had already fled. SK then went to survey the area and saw that there were no CCTVs in the corridor leading up to the toilet.
She went back into the toilet stall she was in to collect her belongings and told the lady next door that there was a peeping Tom. SK knew for sure that the person in the cubicle was a lady and not the culprit as she never heard any doors closing or opening ever since she went in.
Source: Tech Republic
She went to the security office and told them what happened. The head of security then ordered his staff to patrol the area to try and catch the perpetrator. Later on, they showed SK some CCTV footage and asked her to identify the man. As there were no CCTVs in the corridor leading up to the toilets on all floors, they couldn’t get a clear picture of the man. All they could get was a blurry picture of a burly man going into the women’s toilet after SK.
Although the security personnel were very attentive, they were inexperienced and did not have any proper protocols to secure the area. When asked what actions they will take to make women feel safe again in their mall, they were not able to reassure SK that decisive actions would be taken to protect the modesty of their female customers.
SK says:
“As a woman, I am very shaken and I do not feel safe anymore going to that mall on my own. It’s one of my favourite malls ever since I was a teenager and I have always found it to be a safe, family friendly place.”
However, with this recent incident, she does not have any confidence in the security at the mall as they seem clueless. Another thing contributing to the lack of confidence is that they do not have any CCTVs or guards that are stationed around prime areas of crime, (e.g female toilets).
As a message to all women, SK says,
“I am writing this so that women everywhere do not let their guard down. If a 30 year old hijabi like me can be preyed upon, it really doesn’t matter what you are wearing or doing. You just have to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time in a place with poor security controls or avenues for women to seek help.”
We hope that the specific mall and also all other malls will be able to improve their security, especially during this festive season as there will be more visitors and it could potentially mean more targets for crimes. We also urge everyone to stay safe!
Also read: Man Masturbates While Peeping at a PJ Gas Station Clerk Who Was Trying to Poop
