Two robbers armed with machetes entered the home of an 81-year-old woman in Perak, Malaysia, on 21 July.
They assaulted the elderly lady, who suffered injuries from the incident. Her neighbours heard the commotion and rushed to help, armed with rattan canes.
According to China Press, the loud crashing of a metal gate and dogs barking woke Lin Jinmei (transliterated from Chinese) at 5.10am.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
When the elderly woman got up to investigate, she watched a masked man unlock the door to her home.
Just then, another assailant appeared and kicked her in the chest, causing her to fall. They also tore her clothes.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
One of the men also threw a kitchen knife at one of the woman’s dogs, but it was able to dodge the attack.
One of Ms Lin’s neighbours, 52-year-old Zhang Linshan (transliterated from Chinese), was awakened by the sound of a door lock rattling.
When he looked out his window, he saw the robbers breaking into Ms Lin’s home.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
After shouting at the robbers to stop, Mr Zhang rushed out of his home holding rattan sticks.
“At that time, one of the bandits was already sitting in the car with the window open, holding a machete,” he recalled. “I swung the stick at him, but he dodged it.”
Just as the other robber exited Ms Lin’s home and hopped into the car, Mr Zhang’s brother arrived and took one of his rattan sticks. Together, the brothers fought the robbers.
Mr Zhang believes that the robbers realised they had been exposed, so they quickly drove away.
Ms Lin hit her head on a TV cabinet, suffered a back injury, and sustained bruises on her hands due to the incident.
She has gone to a government clinic for an X-ray and is currently in a stable condition.
Ms Lin’s grandson also drove from Singapore immediately after learning about the incident and took her to a private hospital for a comprehensive medical check-up.
The elderly woman said the robbers had taken her old mobile phone, wet wipes and toilet paper, Sin Chew Daily reported.
They were unable to search for other valuables as the incident only lasted three minutes due to her neighbours’ quick action.
Ms Lin believes that if her neighbours had not arrived in time, the robbers would have tied her up, giving them more time to look for valuables.
The police are investigating the case and have taken the kitchen knife that had been thrown to one of the victim’s dogs as evidence.
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Featured image adapted from Sin Chew Daily, China Press.