According to Singapore’s Straits Times, Herman Zaidin, 31, encountered the brutal motorcycle group along the North-South Highway near Simpang Renggam in Johor last Sunday night, after one of them supposedly fell off his bike after hitting into the businessman’s Mercedes Benz while stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
He said that in a flash, over 10 men, converged on the scene in their motorcycles, surrounding his car and blaming him for causing the accident.
“They accused me of causing the accident and started banging on my car. They also hurled vulgarities and asked me to step out.
“The rider who hit me also came forward and demanded compensation. I panicked,” the English daily quoted Herman as telling The New Paper.
He said one of the men smashed his car’s windscreen with a spanner and being afraid of more damage to his car, Herman made the mistake of winding down his window to ask what exactly they wanted.
Seizing on Herman’s vulnerable position, the men started brutally punching him up, with one man using the same spanner to hit him hard on his left eye.
“One of the guys unlocked the door and opened it. Then they started to rain blows on me. One guy used the spanner and hit my left eye.
“With one hand, I held on to my seat belt while I covered my face with the other.”
They also ordered him to hand over his wallet and grabbed his in-vehicle camera, mobile phone, power bank and laptop that was in the boot of his car, before taking off. All in all, Herman lost over RM7,250 in valuables, the report said.
“I (later) stepped out of my car and when I went to the rear, I saw no dent there.
“I’m sure the accident was staged, for after the biker fell off, he immediately asked me for compensation.
“The ordeal lasted about 10 minutes, but it was the longest 10 minutes of my life,” Herman said, lamenting that despite the obvious fracas, no one came to his aid.
Despite being in shock and nursing painful physical injuries to his eye and body, Herman drove home to central Singapore when he lives and later lodged reports with the various relevant authorities. He also lodged a report with Malaysian police before crossing the Causeway back home.
He said the injury to his eye was worrying as the doctor at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore said it was likely Herman’s vision would be permanently affected.
“Looking back, I’m lucky that my injuries were not life-threatening. The men could have stabbed me.
“However, the incident has left me shaken and I don’t think I will be driving to Kuala Lumpur anytime soon. I will fly there instead until I feel brave enough to drive again.”