M'sian dad accused of peeping at 12-year-old neighbour
MOB BEATS WRONG MAN TO DEATH
May 07, 2008
IT was a typical Sunday evening.
The family of seven were at home in Kampung Belakang Kilang, near Kuala Perlis, watching television.
Then, a mob of about 20 men barged into Mr Hatib Leman's home, dragged him outside and beat him senseless, reported Malaysian newspapers.
The 35-year-old construction worker and father of five children suffered internal injuries and broken bones.
He died at 3.45am yesterday, four hours after he was taken to hospital.
His supposed crime?
He had allegedly been peeping at his neighbour's 12-year-old daughter and was suspected of wanting to molest her.
The girl subsequently said Mr Hatib was not her stalker.
SHOUTED & PLEADED
His distraught wife, Madam Fazilah Muhammad, 31, told Harian Metro: 'They (the men) dragged my husband out of the house while we and the children were watching TV.
'Then they thrashed him until he was unconscious.'
Madam Fazilah (above), who had given birth just a month ago, said she was kicked in the abdomen when she tried to stop the men from beating up her husband. Pictures: THE NEW STRAITS TIMES
She continued: 'Although I am in confinement after having given birth to my fifth child a month ago, I tried to stop them from beating my husband.'
Madam Fazilah was kicked in the abdomen during the attack, she told Utusan.
She recalled: 'I shouted and begged the men to stop beating him.
'I told them to surrender Hatib to the police if he really did commit a crime. But my pleas fell on deaf ears.'
The woman said the men were aggressive when a neighbour tried to stop them from hitting her husband.
They left Mr Hatib at a shophouse some 20m away from his home when they realised he was not conscious anymore and neighbours started calling the police, said his wife.
According to Harian Metro, a villager had accused Mr Hatib of peeping at his neighbour's daughter.
But Madam Fazilah said her husband did not climb into the neighbour's home on Saturday to peep at the girl as he was at home with the family at that time.
She claimed: 'I even overheard the group of men saying that they had the wrong man.
'Moreover, the girl was later asked to give a statement after the incident and admitted that Hatib was not the peeping Tom and that the men had made a mistake in beating up my husband.'
Mr Hatib and his family had rented the home in the village only two months ago.
With him dead, Madam Fazilah is now worried about how to raise their five children, aged from 1 month to 18 years.
Meanwhile, police have arrested at least six villagers, between the ages of 30 and 40, and are hunting for more culprits, reported New Straits Times.
District police chief Superintendent Yusof Mohd Diah said the victim was already unconscious when the police arrived.
The case has been classified as murder.
Source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...64092,00.html? 
MOB BEATS WRONG MAN TO DEATH 
