By Farik Zolkepli

JOHOR BARU, Malaysia: One minute, 17-year-old Tan Shu Fang was talking to her mother about how she expected to do well in her examinations. The next, motorcycle louts snatched her handbag - and her life.

The snatch theft victim has died after being in a coma for a week.

Shu Fang, a straight As student of SMK Mutiara Rini 2, was walking with her mother Leong Akooi to a bank near their house in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah on Sept 17 when two men on a motorcycle snatched her handbag and caused both of them to fall.

Shu Fang suffered a severe head injury while her mother suffered minor bruises.

She was in a coma and was warded at Sultanah Aminah Hospital before succumbing to her injuries at about 5pm on Friday.

Recalling the incident, Leong, 52, said her daughter was describing how she expected to do well in her recent Form 5 examination just before the incident occurred.

"We were walking and she was talking about her exams when one of the men on the motorcycle snatched her handbag and both of us fell.

"When I got up, I saw that my daughter was unconscious," she said at the Nirvana cemetery here yesterday.

Leong said some passers-by who saw the incident took them to the hospital.

"I visited her every day and never gave up hope that she would recover," she said, adding that she prayed for her daughter's recovery but it was not meant to be.

Leong said her daughter was a good student and had many friends, although she was the quiet type.

"I only have another son and the house will definitely be quieter without my daughter," she added. Leong hoped that the culprits responsible for her daughter's death would be brought to justice.

"They took my daughter away and I hope they will be caught," she said.

Meanwhile, Skudai assemblyman Dr Boo Cheng Hau hoped that the police would increase security in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah and its surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, Johor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said police would speed up investigations into the matter.

He urged anyone with information to contact the police at 07-2212999 or the nearest police station. --The Star/Asia News Network

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