THOOTHUKUDI: Three youngsters, including two minors have been arrested for allegedly attacking a 16-year-old Class 12 student with sharp weapons on Monday. The incident occurred when the boy, son of a brick kiln worker from Ariyanayagipuram, was heading to his school at Palayamkottai in a bus.
When the bus reached Kettiyammalpuram, the three-member gang waylaid the bus, forcefully made the boy alight and attacked him with sharp weapons before fleeing. The boy sustained injuries on his body, including head, neck and hands, and is undergoing treatment at Tirunelveli GH, sources said.
Subsequently, Srivaikuntam police reached the spot and held an inquiry. Probe revealed that the victim, who belongs to an SC community, had pursued a Class 11 girl, who travels in the same bus. Furious over this, the girls’ two brothers and a cousin brother allegedly conspired to attack the boy, said sources.
Thoothukudi SP Albert John told TNIE that two minors and M Lakshmanan (19) Kettiyammalpuram were arrested, and the victim is recuperating at the hospital. As the boy hails from the SC community, and the three suspects are MBC members, a case has been booked under various sections of BNS and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, said a top police officer.
Police said that Lakshmanan is a school dropout, one of the minors is a Class 11 student of a government aided school, and the other is an ITI student. The trio had warned the victim a few months ago, asking him to stay away from their sister, they added.