At a time when Assam is being plagued by crime rates, a 19-year-old college youth was brutally assaulted by a group of boys while he was on the way back home after attending a cultural programme near Pioneer Jr College at Tangla in Udalguri district on Sunday night.
The victim identified as Wajid Khan is reportedly the son of a reputed businessman. According to eye-witnesses, the youth was accosted by a group allegedly led by Bitopon Basumatari and Pankaj Boro, who mercilessly kicked him resulting in oozing out of blood from his nose and mouth.
The attackers even chased the youth and dragged him down from a motorbike lashing him and allegedly snatching his gold chain. The victim somehow managed to flee the scene with the help of his friends.
Sources have informed that a group of people associated with influential student and political organization allegedly tried to colour the case as that of moral-policing. Speaking to Northeast Now, the victim’s parents said, “We are quite unaware of the intention of the assaulters,” adding, “We have lodged an FIR, but the police action has been very dubious in the matter.”
“Our son received serious injuries and there are grievous injury marks on his body. Besides, the bone of his nose has been fractured due to the assault,” the victim’s mother added.
The victim is on medication and his condition is stated to be stable. The assaulters have been booked in a Tangla PS case (No 456/18) under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), apart from 379 (punishment for theft) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC.
The role of the police has however been questioned by the conscious circles as to why mild charges were pressed against the accused and were released on bail hours after their arrest on Monday.