Man set woman, 62, on fire in M'sia lottery shop, allegedly due to lottery winnings dispute

The 59-year-old suspect who allegedly doused and set a 62-year-old woman in Malaysia on fire at a lottery outlet in Taman Pusat Kepong on Aug. 9 did so due to a lottery ticket dispute.

According to New Straits Times, the victim, who worked as a counter attendant at the outlet, was allegedly approached by an unidentified man.

Set on fire

He then doused her with liquid believed to be petrol before setting her alight.

An earlier report mentioned that she reportedly suffered burns to about 50 per cent of her body.

Her daughter had previously appealed for information about the incident on Facebook.

Sin Chew Daily reported that the suspect had since been arrested by the police on Aug. 18.

Unclear if long-term troublemaker

The suspect and victim were reportedly unrelated but knew each other, The Star reported a Kuala Lumpur police chief as saying.

A lottery shop employee pointed out, however, that it is unclear whether the suspect arrested was the same long-term troublemaker the store encountered last year.

Sin Chew Daily reported that the troublemaker had allegedly been harassing the shop for several months in 2025.

The troublemaker was said to have mainly appeared on Wednesdays, and harassed the shop as frequently as once a week or once every two weeks.

Lottery ticket dispute

Each time he came to the store, he accused the victim of cheating him out of his jackpot winnings, and claimed the victim and another employee split the winnings, an employee said.

She added that though he kept insisting he had won the jackpot, he could not produce the winning ticket, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The employee also noted that each lottery outlet has a limited amount of prize money they can collect.

Should an individual win a large amount involving more than RM10,000 (S$3,150), the lottery outlet generally cannot pay it out directly.

The customer has to present the winning ticket stub at the head office to collect the money.

Caused trouble for several months

According to Sin Chew Daily, the troublemaker had left a deep impression on other employees after causing trouble for several months.

He had also allegedly verbally abused another female employee in addition to the injured employee.

While the troublemaker did not physically assault anyone or throw objects, he verbally harassed the store employees with accusations.

After the injured party finally spoke up to the troublemaker, he stopped causing trouble in the outlet.

He also did not reappear for a long time, which made them think the matter was over.

The arson incident then occurred after some time.

However, the employees were relieved that the suspect was arrested, Sin Chew Daily reported.