Bully's family apologizes, insists punishment
"Society has described the family as encouraging bullying. But what she has said is not how the family views the issue”.
By
Aminath Shifleen
The family of one of the children involved in the assault and bullying inside the toilet area of the A.A.Rasdhoo mosque has apologised.
Last Friday night, a 12-year-old boy was assaulted by two boys, aged 13 and 14, inside the toilet area of the Rasdhoo mosque. In the video, which is about two minutes long, the boy is seen being hit several times. He is beaten on the head and punched several times. The water bottle in his hand is grabbed and poured over his head too.
As the matter escalated, a team of police from the city went to Rasdhoo, investigating the matter as a serious offence.
The family of the 14-year-old boy involved in the case posted an apology on Facebook on Saturday.
The post read:
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The child's family strongly condemns the action, and believes that it is unacceptable
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The family regrets the horror and mental damage the injured child suffered
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So, they apologise to the victim and his family
Another child from the 14-year-old's family also responded to a Facebook post against the abuse. A girl, who is also under 18, threatened to kill the victim.
The family apologised for that as well.
"Society has described the family as encouraging bullying. But what she has said is not how the family views the issue”, with the 14-year-old's mother and father tagged, another family member wrote in a post.
This post also read:
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The child should be punished for his actions
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The family is cooperating with the relevant authorities to do so
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The family asks for the cooperation of the community and relevant authorities to mainstream the child back into society
In connection with the case of Rasdhoo, the relevant institutions held a press conference on Saturday to provide information on the challenges in punishing children for crimes and how it can be solved. The government has decided to reduce the age of responsibility for criminal offences committed by children from 15 to 12 years.
