SHAH ALAM: A woman went through a harrowing ordeal when her six-year-old daughter was taken along with her stolen car for nearly 45 minutes in an incident in Setia Alam yesterday.

District police chief ACP Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim said the 34-year-old woman was dropping off her younger child at a nursery at 6.55 am when she left her eldest daughter asleep in the backseat of her car, which was still running and unlocked.

When she came back, the car was gone.

“The police were alerted to the incident at 7.06 am and, with assistance from the public, located the stolen car at around 7.45 am near an apartment complex, about two kilometres from the scene. The victim’s daughter was found inside, safe and unharmed,” he said in a statement today.

Mohd Iqbal said preliminary investigations found that the suspect, a local man, only realised the child was inside when he heard her crying, prompting him to abandon the vehicle and flee.

“The suspect took the victim’s handbag, which contained bank cards, identification documents, and two mobile phones worth approximately RM2,000,” he said.

He said anyone who had information on the case could contact the investigating officer, Insp. Khamsia Hung Mei Shuang, at 016-8119560.

The case is being investigated under Section 379A of the Penal Code, he added.