Abduction has nothing to do with insulting Islam

KLANG: A 21-year-old unemployed man denied that he was abducted and beaten up by cyber-vigilantes for allegedly insulting Islam in his Facebook posting on Tuesday.

Yesterday, Ng Mun Tatt claimed that he was abducted with the sole intent to extort money from his family and his abductors did not say anything about him insulting Islam.

He also said his abductors had scrawled Saya hina agama Islam (I have insulted Islam) on his abdomen to prevent him from escaping.

"It was not because of my Facebook posting. They (his abductors) only wanted money and did what they did, saying I would be beaten up by any Muslim if I tried to get away with the writing on my body," he said at a press conference here yesterday.

Ng, who is not fluent in English or Malay, admitted to having a Facebook account but the only posting he had made was about his haircut.

Earlier reports had stated that revenge was the motive behind Ng's abduction and the graffiti written on his body. This was because of the controversial posting by bloggers Alvin Tan Jye Yee and Vivian Lee.

Relating his ordeal, Ng said he was having a meal with his girlfriend Rachel Leong Yoke Chan, 16, and several friends about 4.30am when eight men walked up to him from behind and grabbed his shoulders.

"They warned my friends not to make a move and then abducted me," he said adding that he vaguely remembered being drugged and assaulted.

Ng, however, said he did not know who his abductors were nor where he was taken as he was blindfolded the entire time.

He, however, remembers the abductors calling his brother-in-law and demanding a sum of money to deposited in Ng's bank account as well as for the victim's ATM PIN number.

"The next thing I remember was waking up naked in an estate about 10am with the words scrawled on my body.

"I dashed out of the estate and a motorcyclist brought me to a police station."

Ng's brother-in-law, Mak Nui Weng, 28, corroborated Ng's story.

"The abductors wanted RM5,000 in the wee hours of the morning and demanded that I transfer the money immediately when the banks were still closed.

"I only managed to deposit RM3,000 into Ng's account at about 8am. Thank God, they did not kill him," said Mak yesterday.