The Nehru Nagar police have booked two brothers, aged 16 and 17, for allegedly stabbing two of their friends in the heat of an argument on Monday night, seriously injuring them.
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According to the police, the incident occurred around 10.45 p.m at Shivaji Maidan in Kurla. “All four boys are friends and live in Qureshi Nagar. They frequently meet at the ground. On Monday, an argument erupted between the four over an old dispute,” senior police inspector Vilas Shinde, Nehru Nagar police station, said.
The commotion attracted the attention of residents, who restrained the two accused and took the victims, Arif and Samad Khan, to Sion Hospital, where both have been admitted.
The police were informed about the incident, and a team was sent to conduct inquiries. In keeping with the procedure for juveniles, the two boys were called to the police station on Tuesday morning for inquires. “After conducting inquiries, we have registered a case of attempt to murder against them and produced them in a juvenile justice court, which sent them to the juvenile remand home in Dongri,” Mr. Shinde said.
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Meanwhile, reports of the assault having stemmed from Player Unknown’s Battle Ground (PUBG), a popular online game where participants attack and eliminate each other in the virtual world, started doing the rounds early on Tuesday. The addictive game has been in the news for several months, with some educational institutes in the country banning it on campus.
‘No connection to PUBG’
Mr. Shinde, however, refuted the reports. “Inquiries so far, including statements of the accused and eyewitnesses, do not indicate any connection to the game. We have found that the two victims were stabbed with a switchblade that the 17-year-old accused was carrying with him. We are probing further to find out where and why he got the weapon,” Mr. Shinde said.
Psychiatrist Dr. Harish Shetty said violence among youngsters has become very common. “The age of violence has gone down. We see more and more young children involved in such crimes,” Dr. Shetty said. He said exposure to violence through reading, movies and other media often acts as a stimulant for those with latent violent traits. “Also, there is no faith in the system of redressal and there is a belief that a violent person seldom gets punished.”