Recently, Malaysians were shocked by reports of a fellow Malaysian charged with murder after his confrontation with a thief wanting to rob his home ended in the death of the thief. On social media, many people questioned the legitimacy of that decision. Later on a senior police officer advised Malaysians to be cautious when defending themselves against intruders as it was deemed unfair to use a stronger force to subdue the intruder.

In light of that, it is therefore necessary for us to learn some steps on how to manage a home invasion without breaking the law. This is particularly useful since the crime rates all over the country are seemingly increasing by the day:

• Establish a ‘safe room’ in your house which has heavy locks on the inside and possibly a grill on the door too. This area will be the place you and your family retreats to at the first sign of danger. Equip the room with a safe and easy escape route so you can leave without the intruder noticing. Put some heavy wooden furniture in this room so you can block the door too.

• Make sure the safe room is well stocked with water, food and other necessities.

• Turn off the lights and wait in the safe room until the police arrive.

• Always have your hand phone with you as intruders will try to cut phone and internet wires outside the house. Us e your hand phone to call 999 immediately.

• Do not go looking for the intruder. Even though you see this happening on TV all the time, it’s actually not the wisest thing to do. Avoid confrontation at all cost as the thief may be armed with a weapon.

• Establish a safe word for your whole family so you can warn each other of the danger or wake each other up. Good safe words like ‘Escape!’ will immediately warn everyone to either leave the house or go to the safe room.

• If you don’t have a safe room and have no time to escape, ignite your car alarm or the house security alarm.

• If the intruder has already found you and is threatening you, do not fight back. Remember to cooperate as much as possible. Your life is more important than your belongings.

• If the intruder attacks you, defend yourself using pepper spray or your own body, with defensive martial arts moves. Sports like Aikido can teach you how to incapacitate someone without hurting them.

• Under no circumstance should you seek to injure , punish or murder the intruder. Your main aim is always to get away safely. You have to leave the punishment of his crime to the justice system, not take things into your own hands.