Elderly Malaysian woman assaulted after confronting open burning in backyard

MALAYSIA: On 28 January, a man assaulted an 80-year-old woman who confronted him about open burning activities in her backyard.

The incident was captured on a CCTV installed at the rear of the woman’s house by her granddaughter.

Concerned about the escalating arguments between the parties involved, the granddaughter shared the incident via a Facebook post, revealing that her grandmother was alone at home when the attack occurred.

The 26-year-old man, identified as the son of The Baruh Glamping owner in Melaka and seen wearing a blue shirt in the video, ran towards the elderly woman, striking her on the head.

The woman, who fell to the ground, responded by shouting curse words at the man.

According to the granddaughter’s Facebook post, the family initially attempted to negotiate the issue of open burning with the other party, but their efforts were ignored.

This led to ongoing arguments.

The granddaughter mentioned that the open burning activities were adversely affecting her grandmother’s health, causing thick smoke to enter the house.

Despite pursuing legal action through the police, the glamping site only received a warning letter.

In response, the open burning activities reportedly intensified, seen as a revenge action against the family for reporting the issue to the police.

After the video gained traction among netizens, The Baruh Glamping responded the same day with their version of events.

They claimed that the elderly woman was the aggressor, attempting to pick a fight with them using a stick.

According to them, the video posted by the granddaughter was edited to show only the part where the man assaulted the woman.

The glamping site asserted that their staff retaliated in self-defense, intending to chase the woman away and take the wooden stick from her to prevent further aggression.

They presented a video as evidence, showing the elderly woman leaving the scene with her stick while exchanging angry words with the staff.

The glamping site further claimed that they were falsely accused of throwing garbage and subjected to verbal abuse almost every day.

The viral videos sparked mixed reactions among netizens, with some expressing uncertainty about who was at fault, given the conflicting statements from both sides.

Many emphasized that regardless of the origin of the argument, the man should not have resorted to assaulting the elderly woman.

Authorities apprehended the man at his house on the night of 29 January.