Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah has confirmed receiving a death threat from an anonymous individual, in the run-up to the Nov 19 Bersih 5 rally.

The death threat was in the form of an image of a man shrouded in all black and holding a dagger, with one hand on the scruff of 'her neck' - her image wearing a Bersih 5 T-shirt superimposed on the original photo.

"We need some excitement in our lives right?" said Maria when contacted this morning.

"I got a lot of these kinds of threats from unidentified numbers.

"Normally I would ignore them but this time it is a bit too much... Think of my three sons," she said, adding that a police report will be lodged later this evening.

Versions of the same threat also targeted Bersih secretariat member Mandeep Singh and Human Rights Society chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Mandeep told Malaysiakini that the images had left him puzzled.

“Before this, we were (said to be) IS. Now, IS wants to kill us. I am confused,” he quipped.

He was referring to red shirts movement leader Jamal Md Yunos' claim that the militant group had infiltrated Bersih.

Ambiga who found her photograph being doctored in a similar image - a man holding a dagger beside her - slammed the act.
 
"It's appalling. I think they really crossed the line. This is an act of terrorism," she said at a sideline when met in Shah Alam.
 
"I really like to see what the police are going to do about it... if they don't act on this case...I mean it is a clear-cut case of threat," she said.
 
"It requires immediate action," she added.
 
The former Bersih chairperson said she will lodge a police report this evening together with Maria Chin.