6-year-old bitten by pet monkey

A pet monkey bit and seriously injured the right calf of a six-year-old girl in Kampung Paya Mengkuang, Pendang, yesterday.

The monkey, with a neck collar affixed to a chain, bit Nur Syahadatul Fatehah Mohd Shahbudin at about 5pm as she was playing with her cousin and several friends outside her house, said her mother Mashitah Taha, 40.

She said a villager informed her of the incident and she found her daughter crying in pain as she bled from the calf.

"We rushed her to Yan Hospital and she had to be transferred to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital because the wound was deep," she said when met at the hospital.

Mashitah said Nur Syahadatul Fatehah was scheduled to undergo surgery today.

Kedah director of the National Parks and Wildlife Protection Department, Mohamad Hafid Rohani, said the department had advised the villagers to be wary of the monkey and efforts were being made to find the animal which belonged to a neighbour.