Police Widen Probe into Brutal Assault on 17-Year-Old Student in Kochi

KOCHI — Police have widened their investigation into the brutal assault of a 17-year-old Plus Two student in Kochi, suspecting that more juveniles may have been involved than initially identified.

The incident took place at a rented apartment in Edappally on Saturday evening. The investigation suggests that the assault was linked to a dispute over an Instagram account created by former Class 10 classmates for online gaming.

The students reportedly shared mobile phones while playing games through the account. The dispute began after the victim temporarily lost access to the account when his phone was damaged. On regaining access, he discovered that obscene messages had allegedly been sent to several female students through the account.

His classmates accused him of sending the messages, but he maintained that someone else had misused his profile while they were sharing phones.

The teenager was allegedly called to a location on the promise of settling the dispute. He was then taken to a rented apartment in Edappally, confined and assaulted. Video footage recorded during the attack later circulated on social media.

A 40-year-old woman, the mother of one of the juveniles allegedly involved, has been arrested and remanded in judicial custody. Police had initially identified four boys and one girl, but the examination of the complete footage raised suspicions that additional juveniles were present.

Police have summoned the students, their parents and the victim for questioning. Social Background Reports are also being prepared before the juveniles are produced before the Juvenile Justice Board.

The assault came to light after the teenager's health deteriorated and he was taken to hospital, where doctors reportedly detected internal injuries. The investigation is continuing.