SEREMBAN, May 14 ― A year has passed since the vicious attack on two nuns at the Church of the Visitation in Jalan Yam Tuan took place, and the death of one of them has not brought about any change.
On May 14 last year, two nuns, Sister Juliana Lim, 68, and Sister Marie-Rose, 79, were brutally attacked by an unidentified helmet-wielding assailant, who is still at large. Sister Juliana succumbed to her injuries six days later.
The general consensus of business owners and people there when Malay Mail revisited the still crime-infested area was that security needs to be beefed up before they completely feel safe along the busy street.
Among the remarks made by folks in Jalan Yam Tuan, dubbed the “holy street” as it houses three major places of worship along a 2km stretch in the heart of the town, was: “I will never walk alone in these streets.”
It appeared as if last year’s outrage over the alleged lack of effort by police in arresting criminals who were terrorising people in Jalan Yam Tuan was still growing.
Hardave Singh, 53, a regular worshiper at the Seremban gurdwara, said devotees at the Sikh temple had repeatedly experienced snatch thefts in the vicinity.
“Snatch thefts are rampant here, and the thieves are very organised ... while the pillion rider snatches the bag, an accomplice on a different motorcycle revs his engine so other people can’t hear the victim’s scream for help.”
Hardave said immediately following the attack on the nuns, there was a mobile police unit stationed along the street near the church.
“But it was only there for a month. After that there was only a patrol car doing its rounds on and off,” he said.
Hardave himself was almost a victim of a snatch theft but fortunately he managed to escape without losing anything.
“I was riding my bike and spotted two other motorcycles behind me. They tried to grab my chain, but I sped off to a motorcycle shop to be safe,” he said.
Bookshop owner T.R. Chandran, 60, said the police they see often are traffic policemen summoning cars that are not parked properly.
A parishioner of the Church of the Visitation, Victor Samuel, who also owns a business here, said the area had seen many snatch theft cases but most of the victims are hesitant to report the incidents.
“From my conversation with some of the victims, they are hesitant because they don’t see any point in reporting,” he said.
“A few months ago, a friend said while his wife was inside a shop buying something, two thieves pounced on her and snatched her gold chain, but he was not so keen on making a report as he was not confident the authorities will take action.”
A flower shop owner, who wanted to be identified only as Jaya, said the snatch thieves were well aware of the times the police would patrol the area and would work around the times.
“They know what time the police would most likely be in the area, and they would go around looking for targets once the police had left the area. That is why we feel there should be a permanent police beat base,” he said.
Moneychanger Sultan Salahudeen, 41, said that a day before the Malay Mail interview, a snatch theft took place a few metres from his shop.
“We were running our shop as usual when we heard a scream from a woman. As we went outside to see what happened, the thieves were already out of sight,” he said.
“Most of the roads here small and have many connecting lanes, making it easy for the thieves to escape.
“As a community, we all try to look out for one another, but there is only so much we can do. The police have to step up the frequency of their patrols to scare away the thieves.”
