KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — A British expatriate was slashed in her attempts to prevent a man from kidnapping her two-year-old son at their home in Bangsar here, the mother’s friend said today.

The friend, who asked not to be named, said that the mother, Sarah Joseph, sustained injuries to her arms after being attacked by the 5-feet-6-inches tall man with a machete just before 6pm today.

“He had a machete,” the friend told The Malay Mail Online today.

“Police told us not to speak to press for now. That’s all,” she added.

The friend said that the boy, Freddie, was taken away in a white saloon car.

The male kidnapper was also accompanied by a female accomplice, who wore in a headscarf.

Another friend of Joseph, also a British expatriate named Chris Bailey, had alerted The Malay Mail Online earlier this evening to the kidnap.

In an email, Bailey alleged that Freddie was snatched from the front garden of his Bangsar home here at about 6pm today.

The kidnapper was described as standing about 5-feet-6-inches tall with Chinese or Burmese features.

His female accomplice was reportedly an Asian with long black hair.

The duo reportedly made their getaway in a white Toyota Camry, which bore the car registration plate number BKP 4386.

The police are expected to hold a news conference about this case later tonight.