Locals in a district in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province are worried about a rumor that a robbery gang can break into houses from the roof to rob residents and rape women.

The information has been provided to Tuoi Tre by residents of Long Hai town in Long Dien district, who said they and other locals were very anxious about their safety, although police rejected the rumor. On April 17, Tuoi Tre reporters arrived in Long Hai and Duong Van Chia, a local, said many families were very anxious about the risk of being attacked by a robbery gang. “The rumor says these robbers are so tactical that they can ‘make themselves invisible' when they move from one rooftop to another without being detected,” Chia said. Since April 10, locals have set up watch teams to guard and detect any suspicious strangers trying to enter their residential quarters. Hoang Thi Dung, head of a residential quarter, said that on the night of April 13, watchmen saw some people moving on the rooftops but could not track them down. Tran Van Vinh, a local, said he heard loud noises coming from his roof and the roof, tiled with metal roofing sheets, later sank a bit. Two days later, local guards found a stranger entering their residential area and seized him. The man, who said he is a native of Quang Binh province and homeless, was handed over to police, who later sent the man to a social center. There have been no robbers or thieves arrested so far.Rape? It seems that the rumor is based on real cases that have recently occurred to two local women, many residents said. The first case is of V.T.N., a woman who reported she had attacked by a robber at 2 am on April 11. N. said that a man used a knife to threaten her when she found him breaking into her house. The men used a pair of scissors to cut her net-mosquito and said, “Keep silent or I will kill you!” The man then asked where she kept her money and after she said she had no money, he covered her face with a blanket and searched the house for money. After failing to find money, he forced N. to use her hands to stimulate his penis. N. then managed to grasp the pair of scissors and tried to get away from the man while shouting loudly for help. The man ran away with the scissors, while N. suffered many cuts on her hands. She later had to have 11 stitches on the wounds. The second case happened to C.T.N., who lost a mobile phone and VND60,000 (US$2.8) to a robber who threatened and launched a sexual attack on her before she managed to escape from him early on the morning of April 9. Local authorities have calmed down residents and advised them not to be excessively worried by rumors while awaiting investigation and conclusions by police, said Nguyen Van Son, chairman of the town People’s Committee. Police will boost their patrols in many areas in the town, Son added.