KUCHING, March 7 — A 20-year-old man narrowly escaped with his life today after being hacked and slashed by four assailants armed with a machete each.

The victim from Sematan, a fishing village in the Lundu division to the northwest of Kuching, was with his 21-year-old girlfriend in Matang Jaya when the attack occurred shortly after midnight.

According to the girlfriend who declined to be named, she and her boyfriend were chatting at a quiet corner of a closed shop when four men on two motorcycles approached.

“Do you want to see your boyfriend die in front of you?” the woman related to reporters, remembering the words one of the assailants said.

Fearing for her own safety, the woman fled.

The four men went at her boyfriend and are believed to have left only after the victim fell to the ground bleeding and motionless.

Subsequently, the victim managed to get up and sought help from members of the public nearby to call an ambulance to the scene.

Despite sustaining wounds to his arm, neck and head, he remained conscious.

The victim, who also declined to give his name, told reporters that neither he nor his girlfriend knew the identity of the attackers nor the motive of the attack.

A police report was lodged afterwards.