Seven booked for attacking minor boy, family with iron rods in Tamil Nadu

THOOTHUKUDI:  Following the intervention of the district child safety committee, Kulasekarapattinam police have booked seven persons for allegedly assaulting a minor boy and his family.

Sources identified the victim as Petchi Vijay (12). According to a complaint lodged by his mother S Ponselvi (30) of Kamaraj Nagar near Kulasekarapattinam, a few days ago, M Sivasakthi Perumal ran over their puppy with a two-wheeler on their street.

"When Ponselvi went to question this, Sivasakthi's family members attacked the former's aunt Kalyani and Petchi Vijay, who is a school dropout. Subsequently, Ponselvi approached Kulasekarapattinam police to lodge a complaint, but the police allegedly failed to take action," sources said.

A few days later, the trio again decided to approach the police, but on their way to the police station, Sivasakthi's family member Manikanda Perumal and his friends waylaid and attacked Ponselvi, Kalyani, and Vijay with wooden and iron rods. The 12-year-old boy fainted when struck with an iron rod and he was admitted to Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital.

With the police still not taking any action, district child safety committee member Kennedy took up the matter with the Kulasekarapattinam station inspector, who subsequently held inquiries with suspects Manikanda Perumal, Muthukrishnan, Sakthi, Viraj, Muthupandi, Maharasi, and Gangai Raja. They were booked under sections 147, 341, 294(b), 324, 232, 506(2) of the Indian Penal Code and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 2002.