Unruly youth attack tribal man brutally, urinate on him in Ongole

ONGOLE: In a horrific incident, a tribal youth was brutally attacked and urinated upon by his friends under the influence of alcohol in Ongole in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. While the incident took place almost a month ago, it came to light on Tuesday after the video of the attack went viral on social media platforms.

According to reports, the victim was identified as M Naveen, a native of Ongole. Naveen, along with M Anjaneyulu alias Anji, the main accused, were childhood friends. The duo were petty criminals and police had registered almost 50 house burglary cases against them. In many cases, Naveen was arrested by the police and even sent to jail. For several months, Anji meanwhile has been evading the police. Disputes started creeping up between Naveen and Anji over various issues in recent times.

Almost a month ago, Anji called Naveen and nine others to consume alcohol behind KIMS Medical College in Ongole. At that moment, heated arguments were exchanged between Anji and Naveen over past incidents leading to an attack against Naveen. In the video that went viral on social media platforms, Naveen could be seen pleading to Anji and his friends to not attack him. But his pleas fell on deaf ears and Anji and his friends thrashed him black and blue.

The accused didn’t even show mercy upon Naveen and also urinated in his mouth, apart from being threatened to swallow it. Anji’s friends, who were also present on the spot, didn’t restrict him and captured the video of the entire incident. Later, the victim filed a police complaint against Anji. Based on the complaint, a case was registered under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act against the accused. Two persons were taken into custody and questioned. Police constituted special teams and launched a hunt to arrest the main accused, Anji, who is absconding.

Victim eloping with accused's girl friend was the motive: Prakasam SP

Prakasam District Superintendent of Police (SP) Mallika Garga said that the incident was reported on June 19, 2023, when the victim, Naveen, was admitted to the hospital with injuries. "In his initial complaint to the police, the victim had mentioned that there was a brawl between his friends and him but had not mentioned them urinating on him," the SP said.

After the video went viral on social media platforms, Naveen gave a statement that his friends had harassed him, apart from threatening and urinating on him. “The motive for the crime is Naveen eloped with the one of the accused Abhilash's girlfriend. Abilash, along with his friends, wanted to take revenge. So, they called Naveen for a dinner and then assaulted him, followed by urinating on him,” the SP said.

Mallika Garg said that the nine accused and Naveen were childhood friends who had been involved in property crimes in the past and had been rowdy sheeters with 30 cases booked against them. "Out of the nine accused, three have been arrested, three are absconding. A team has been deployed to arrest the rest. Out of the six arrested, three are juveniles who are being produced before court. A case has been registered under sections 307 and SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act," the SP said.