Penang woman who stabbed bus driver caught before boarding another bus

A man cradles Mr Aisyamudin Yaacob (in yellow) as he lays in a pool of blood after being stabbed on his right leg. -- PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
A man cradles Mr Aisyamudin Yaacob (in yellow) as he lays in a pool of blood after being stabbed on his right leg. -- PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

GEORGE TOWN (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A woman who viciously stabbed a bus driver in Penang for not acceding to her request to stop by the roadside has been nabbed on Tuesday morning.

Police arrested the 48-year-old woman at a bus stop in Jalan Paya Terubong - one day after she attacked the RapidPenang bus driver - right before she boarded another RapidPenang bus, .

A knife, believed to be used to stab 27-year-old Aisyamudin Yaacob, was also recovered.

Mr Aisyamudin, who was stabbed in the body and legs, is still fighting for his life at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The knife apparently punctured the main vein on his right leg.

Mr Aisyamudin, who started work only two months ago, was driving the bus uphill to Bukit Paya Terubong when the incident took place at about 6.50am on Monday.

RapidPenang group communications and strategic marketing head Rafidah Abdul Karim said the bus was practically empty "except for the attacker and an Indonesian woman".

"Aisyamudin managed to hit the panic button that informed the command centre of the attack," she said.

"Another RapidPenang bus passing the scene minutes later stopped to help," said Ms Rafidah at the Penang Hospital where Mr Aisyamudin was admitted.

"Aisyamudin told the driver of the other bus what had happened before losing consciousness.

"His colleague then alerted the police and called the ambulance," she said.

"Apparently, the woman wanted Aisyamudin to stop the vehicle by the roadside, before the designated bus stand," Ms Rafidah said.

"When Aisyamudin did not, the woman got angry," she said.

The bus has a GPS system but not CCTV, as "only new vehicles were equipped with such cameras", Ms Rafidah said.

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