A 13-year-old boy in Malaysia has been detained by the police after a video emerged that appeared to show him stabbing a private hire driver with a knife.

The video, which was taken from the driver's dashcam and showed the two occupants of the vehicle, also shows that the boy struck the driver in his seatbelt, which might have saved his life.

Allegedly asked to borrow money from driver

According to the New Straits Times, the incident occurred at about 5:45pm on Monday, Nov. 27 in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

According to Kuala Muda district police chief Zaidy Che Hassan, the 65-year-old driver picked up his passenger, the 13-year-old boy, at Taman Keladi. The destination was Bandar Sri Astana.

During the journey, the passenger allegedly asked the driver if he could borrow RM50 (S$14.30), supposedly to pay his rent.

The driver then told the passenger that if he didn't have the money to pay for the ride, he would have to be dropped off then and there. But the passenger insisted on being taken to his home in Bandar Sri Astana, where he could get money to pay the driver.

However, upon reaching Bandar Sri Astana, the passenger asked the driver to return him to Taman Keladi.

According to Zaidy, the driver received a payment of RM18 (S$5.15) from the passenger, who "delayed the process". The passenger directed him to drive around several alleys along a different, longer route, which led the driver to ask for an additional fee of RM9 (S$2.60).

Upon reaching the new destination, the passenger paid the driver, but when the older man was going to return the change, he allegedly attempted to stab the driver. Fortunately, the tip of the knife appeared to be caught in the driver's seatbelt.

Unharmed due to seatbelt

Zaidy said that the driver reacted by grabbing the knife and biting the passenger's hand, causing him to flee. The driver was reportedly unharmed.

"The motive behind the suspect's actions was his anger towards the driver for being scolded, which made him attempt to reclaim the fare," Zaidy said, according to NST.

Bulletin TV 3 reported that the driver was heard "scolding" the passenger, who supposedly asked him to repeatedly stop at a number of destinations without intending to disembark.

"I use the car to earn money, not like this. I am not your father," the driver could be heard saying. "Aiya, people like you give me heart burn."

Police recovered a 25 cm-long knife, supposedly carried by the suspect.

The case is investigated under Malaysia’s Section 393 of the Penal Code for attempted robbery.

Top image from Reddit Malaysia.