A LEMANG seller was arrested for assaulting a customer, who claimed that he had bought lemang that was not properly cooked, in an incident at a roadside stall on Jalan Bukit Beruang Utama, Malacca on Friday.

Melaka Tengah district police chief Christopher Patit said in the 8pm incident, the victim, a 61-year-old military veteran, suffered injuries to his left ear and right hand after being hit with a bamboo stick, and was treated at Malacca Hospital.

He said before the incident, the victim went to the stall to exchange lemang, which he had bought in the morning, because it was found to be not properly cooked.

“Upon arriving at the stall, the victim claimed that he had shown the uncooked lemang to the 40-year-old seller, but the latter refused to look at it,” he said in a statement today.

“The seller then split open one of the lemang bought by the complainant, and showed that the lemang was fully cooked, before a verbal exchange ensued between them, which led to the alleged assault.”

He said the lemang also hit the victim with a bamboo stick on the left ear and right hand.

He said an initial investigation found that the incident occurred as the suspect claimed that the victim threw the uncooked lemang at him, making him angry.

The seller also said victim wanted to upload a video of the incident, which was recorded, so that people would not come to his stall.

Patit said the suspect was arrested on Jalan Kota at 12.15am yesterday, but was released on police bail after his statement was recorded.

He also said the investigation is ongoing.

Yesterday, a 29-second long video clip of the incident went viral on social media, showing the action of the lemang seller assaulting the victim with a bamboo stick and hurling abusive words. – Bernama, April 23, 2023.