A 34-year-old Singaporean was nearly raped while she was holidaying with her children at Langkawi by a man believed to be an employee of the Padang Matsirat beach resort the family was staying at.

The incident occurred around 7.20am on Wednesday, 28 Nov – a day after the family checked into the resort. The young mother, Yan Celia, was getting ready to go for a morning jog while her 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter were sleeping in the bedroom when she spotted a shirtless man in the living room:

“I noticed a black shadow behind the glass panel . ‘Who are you,’ I have no idea why I asked. It can be ghost or housekeeping.
“One Malay man topless with black trouser about height 165cm , very tanned skin not skinny but slightly toned body with stubble on the chin, jump into me and push me to the bed.
“I started to scream like hell and struggle . He covered my mouth and asked me stop screaming. I listened to what he instructed and asked him, “what do you want? you want money?”
“He replied ‘I want you.’”

Celia recounted that she screamed for help while struggling and managed to punch him, causing the assailant to bleed. The injured man then tried to drag her into the bathroom and close the door.

Celia managed to rush out and grabbed her selfie stick to use it as a weapon against the assailant. However, the man had disappeared by this point. All that was left indicating the man’s presence were a buggy parked out front with no driver and the bloody bedspread.

By this time, Celia’s children were awake, sitting up in fear and shock.

Celia immediately checked out of the hotel and discovered that the hotel had sent a man who looked similar to the attacker, to pick her up in the buggy.

Celia brought the bedsheet stained with the assailant blood to the police station and lodged a police complaint. The local police later reported that a 17-year-old suspect has been apprehended and that investigations are ongoing.

Celia was thankful that she survived the ordeal. She expressed online:

“I was safe with no injured no bruise or scratches on me. I guess I’m really fight hard. The benefits of training hard for these 2 years. I am strong.”
The suspected assailant can be seen here in white
The bedroom following the attack