A dangerous world for the disabled

Like most Malaysians, I was shocked to wake up to the news more than a week ago about the terrorist attack in Paris, France.

One of the parts, which most caught my attention was an eye-witness account of how they deliberately hunted down disabled people during the Friday night massacre in the Bataclan concert hall.

The report by the Telegraph spoke of how gunmen went to the disabled seating section and shot at handicapped concert-goers.

It is not difficult to imagine how extremely vulnerable the victims would have felt with their walking sticks, white canes or in their wheelchairs with virtually nowhere to escape the rain of bullets in a large, dark and deadly room.

Discussing this incident with some of my able-bodied friends, I was surprised to discover that some of them were stunned by this.

Somehow they thought that when it came to crime, criminals would at least show some sympathy to disabled people, they told me.

Not true at all.

Years ago during my brief homestay experience in the United States, I met a 30-something-year-old gentleman in a wheelchair.

He and I lived in a shelter for the homeless in California.

He was the admiration of many.

He had strong arms and would travel to work in his wheelchair independently using public transport.

But what shocked me was when he told me that he was a victim of not one, but two near-death muggings.

He was beaten to a pulp twice in alleys with his wheelchair destroyed the first time, and taken away from him the second time.

All this for only a few dollars in his wallet.

His attackers only saw his disability as an easy target to commit their crime.

Miraculously he survived to tell his story. Passers-by came to his rescue after his assailants were long gone.

The good news is that none of the incidents stopped him ever from going out again. He continued to go about with his routine.

Closer home, my friend from Kepong in Kuala Lumpur got a taste of a similar nasty experience some months ago when she and her husband, both wheelchair users, were asleep in their bedroom.

Three masked young men armed with machetes broke into their house through their back door in a night of terror and ransacked their home.

They took away their wheelchairs, gagged their mouths with a cloth and tied them to their beds until they had relieved them of their possessions.

The disabled couple's maid was asleep upstairs all the while and only realised what had happened when she woke up in the morning.

Sadly in my friend's case, the crooks were never caught to this day.

There are many disabled people who continue to remain victims of crime almost on a daily basis.

From those who suffer physical and sexual abuse in their homes to handicapped people out in the streets who go about earning their living.

I know of situations where disabled members in a family who are afraid of reporting a family member for sexual abuse because they are dependent on their very help for survival.

There are also those who suffer physical abuse or constant harassment and taunting from an older person in the family which the police, unfortunately, don't take seriously because it involves "family members".

The blind have often complained about Good Samaritans who turn out to be wolves in sheep's clothing.

These are strangers who help them across the street, then take off with their purses and wallets.

Some even leave them midway on the road during the crossing and snatch away their white canes to further disorientate them while the thieves make their getaway.

Blind women have also spoken about being molested in buses or in lonely areas in the streets.

Thieves have also entered massage parlours run by the blind and robbed them.

Each time it is difficult to identify the assailants because the victims are blind themselves.

The deaf also are unable to scream out when a crime is happening to them. It is not easy for them to make a police report afterwards if no one in the police station is familiar with sign language.

And it's not easy if you are in a wheelchair either, especially when you are driving and have a wheelchair logo on your car.

I encountered a group of young men in Kuala Lumpur once who were pretty annoyed with my driving.

I was keeping to the speed limit of 50km in the city, more so as I have problems with balance due to my paralysed legs.

The four impatient men in their car kept forcing me to drive faster with rude hand signs which I ignored.

At one point, they overtook my car and suddenly stopped their car in front of mine forcing me to hit the brakes in my hand powered vehicle.

Suddenly, it was only their car and mine on the road with no one else.

They opened all their doors and put out their legs as if to say they were coming out of their car to get me.

It was at that moment when my guardian angel, my Rottweiler service dog, who had been sleeping motionlessly in the back seat all the while, decided to stand up to see what the commotion was all about.

With all of them suddenly looking as if they had seen a ghost, they pulled back their legs into the car, slammed the doors and sped off as fast as they could.

You see friends, whether there are terrorists or not, it is still a very dangerous world out there for many of us! – November 23, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.