KEPALA BATAS: A man broke into his neighbour's house in Pongsu Seribu here yesterday afternoon and attempted to rape a 25-year-old woman.
Lucky for the victim, her 32-year-old husband came back home from work just in time to fight off the intruder.
At the time of the incident, the victim was home alone when she heard the sound of footsteps on her roof.
Suspicious, she came out of her room to inspect and was surprised to find an unknown man standing in front of the room.
The man then pulled her hand and pushed her inside the room before proceeding to hug her.
She tried to escape by taking a plastic bottle and hitting the man's head but to no avail. Instead, the man tore her dress and tried to rape her.
Seberang Prai Utara district police chief Assistant Commissioner Noorzainy Mohd Noor said the suspect was staying next door.
"From what we gathered, the suspect is believed to have entered the victim's house through the kitchen since there was an open space there. He then walked towards her room. The victim, surprised to find the suspect outside her room, tried to close the door but he pushed it, causing her to fall on the floor. He then pulled her and tore her clothes.
"The victim's husband, who just returned from work, heard his wife's cries for help and entered the house through the kitchen where he stumbled upon the suspect. The husband caught the victim but the latter hit him on the head with a piece of wood.
"Seeing that the husband was injured, the suspect fled," he said today.
Doctors at the Kepala Batas Hospital, who attended to the couple, said the victim only sustained minor bruises, believed to be from the suspect's grip, while the husband was cleared off any internal injuries.
Noorzainy said in a follow-up action, Kepala Batas police station chief and his men nabbed the suspect in front of his house and seized the piece of wood from him.
"The 21-year-old suspect's urine test came back negative," he said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 455 for housebreaking and Section 354 of the Penal Code for assault or use of criminal force to any person with intention to outrage the modesty of the person.