UPDATE: An investigation by the police has revealed that the boy cooked up the story to get his parents' attention. Read: Mangaluru police rule out communal attack on 13-year-old, say boy had cooked up story
A 13-year-old Muslim boy alleged that he was attacked by two miscreants at 9.15 pm on Monday, June 27 in Mangaluru's Krishnapura area. The boy was headed home from his madrasa which was around 300 metres away from his residence when two masked attackers allegedly suddenly stopped and attacked him. Visuals of the boy after the attack show that his clothes were torn during the attack, and he has sustained minor injuries in the incident. It was not immediately clear why the boy was attacked.
“We’re not sure what happened exactly, we are in shock,” said the 13-year-old’s mother. “From what we heard two people came on a bike and began attacking him. The attackers didn’t make any noise or speak anything but my son started screaming because of which they ran away. Luckily, he only got a few scratches because my son began defending himself after the initial attack.”
The police have launched an investigation to find out who the attackers were, and what prompted them to assault the boy. “The court has given us the permission to file an FIR and the investigation has begun. We are scanning CCTVs. The attackers haven’t been found yet so we don’t know what the intention of the attack was,” a senior police officer at the Suratkal police station told TNM.
Muneer Katipalla, a local politician from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a relative of the family said that the attackers had covered their faces with masks. Due to this and because they did not speak anything, it was hard for them to figure out if the attackers were anyone known to them. A complaint was registered with the Suratkal Police Station by the boy’s parents.
CPI(M) leader Muneer said, “We are not just demanding that an FIR be filed but that a strict investigation be carried out. If we let it go, incidents like these will only increase.”