BENTONG: A 16-year-old girl, distraught when her father took her phone away, attempted to jump off a flyover at Km46 of the KL-Karak Highway near Bukit Tinggi, today.
Her plan was thwarted when Bukit Tinggi police station chief Sergeant Major Maznan Omar came to her rescue in the 2.12pm incident.
District police chief Superintendent Zaiham Mohd Kahar said several motorists had spotted the girl standing at the edge of the flyover and quickly alerted police.
"A police team led by Maznan went to the scene and tried to calm her down and asked her to step down from the edge of the flyover. The Fire and Rescue Department arrived minutes later and spread a salvage sheet below the flyover in an attempt to catch her had she jumped.
"Minutes later, the girl seemed restless… at that point, Maznan dashed towards her and pulled her to safety before other policemen came to assist," he said in a statement today.
Zaiham said investigations showed that the girl's father had scolded her for spending too much time playing games on the phone and had seized the device.
"She was in the middle of getting treatment for depression (and this was believed to have pushed her over the edge). She was later taken to hospital for further treatment," he said, urging parents to always keep a close watch on their children's activities.
A video clip of the incident showed the girl sitting on the edge of the flyover as Maznan approached her. When he was 10m or so away from her, he stopped and looked over the edge of the flyover, then crossed to the other side.
As he crossed, the girl's head could be seen turned slightly to observe Maznan's movements. Once he was directly behind her, she turned her head back again to look straight ahead and, from what could be seen in the clip, Maznan took the opportunity to dash towards her, grab her from behind and bring her in, away from the edge of the flyover.
Several other people, believed to be plainclothes policemen, then dashed to where Maznan still had the girl firmly in his grasp and helped bring her away.