PUBLISHED ONJanuary 22, 2025 3:15 AMByDana LeongLim KeweiA woman who recently claimed she was nearly kidnapped near a mall in Johor Bahru said she has lodged a police report — but local police said they have not received any.
Venus Ho recounted her experience in an Instagram video following the alleged incident on Jan 10.
Ho said she had been shopping alone near KSL City Mall when a man and woman approached her, attempting to promote their products.
She rejected their advances, but eventually relented as the duo would not leave her alone.
According to Ho, the woman then proceeded to take out a container filled with "tea leaves" and asked Ho to give it a smell.
"Less than a minute later, my entire body started to feel weak and I began to feel dizzy," said Ho.
The woman allegedly grabbed Ho's handbag while the man held onto Ho and told her that she was his wife.
The man also allegedly dragged Ho towards a car, saying that he needed to take her home. Ho said she shouted loudly in response to the man's claims, saying that she's not his wife and does not even know him.
"Thankfully, there were passers-by nearby who stopped what was happening," said Ho.
The duo allegedly pushed Ho to the ground where she hit her head. Ho said she was hospitalised for three days following the injury.
"When I woke up, the doctor told me that I smelled something similar to an anaesthetic, which caused me to feel weak and dizzy," Ho added.
The doctor also told Ho that she was not the first person to experience something like that.
Ho said she filed a police report following the incident and reminded viewers to be vigilant of their surroundings even in crowded places, especially when alone. She also warned against eating or smelling anything from strangers.
"If there hadn't been any passers-by to help, I probably wouldn't have been able to return home to my child."
In a statement on Tuesday (Jan 21), however, Johor Bahru Selatan police chief Raub Selamat said they had not received any reports in relation to Ho's claims.
He said that the police are still working on identifying the individuals involved in the incident and the witnesses, as well as the actual cause of the incident.
"The public is advised not to share the video on social media to avoid misunderstandings or speculation that could disrupt societal harmony," Raub added.
Just last month, a Malaysian man was allegedly targeted by a "hypnotist gang" at Genting Highlands.
Fandy Kan posted about her experience on Xiaohongshu, recounting how a woman carrying a child had approached her dad.
The woman "smelt faintly of jasmine" and allegedly asked Kan's father to buy some dough fritters for her child, to which her father "instinctively" agreed.
This was particularly alarming to Kan, knowing that her father was frugal and would not normally agree to such requests, especially from a stranger.
Her father seemed to be in a sort of trance and had only "suddenly sobered up" when she tapped him on his shoulder and pulled him away.
Commenting under her post, Resorts World Genting said then that they will be investigating the incident.
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