By Loh Foon Fong

KUALA LUMPUR: Seven Myanmar women factory workers were spared the ordeal of rape when a parang-wielding intruder broke into their hostel but could not get an erection.

The man entered the hostel at 2am when the women were fast asleep.

He woke them up before robbing them of their mobile phones and jewellery.

The women, who were all in their 20s, were later ordered to strip but his attempt to rape them was unsuccessful and he left soon after.

Terrified by the incident, the workers refused to continue living in the hostel in Taman Putri Wangsa in Johor Baru.

Myanmar embassy counsellor Ei Ei Tin said the embassy would provide temporary shelter for the women but it wanted the police to arrest the culprit.

"He has not been caught. He had a parang and ordered all of the women to surrender their money and to strip," she told The Star.

The counsellor said the embassy was writing a letter to the Human Resources Ministry to look into the plight of Myanmar workers in Malaysia.

"We also want the workers to have a safe place and not have 30 people live in one dormitory," she said.

The seven women who reported the case to the embassy had to live with more than 20 others in another dormitory and this caused a lot of discomfort and could pose a health risk, she said.

Tin urged the agents for foreign workers from Myanmar and their Malaysian counterparts to adhere to the laws in their treatment of workers.

There are 13,0731 registered Myanmar workers in the services, manufacturing and plantation sectors in the country. -The Star/Asia News Network