SUBANG JAYA, MALAYSIA: A case of mistaken identity may have led to the severe beating of a 16-year-old schoolboy by a group of nearly 30 of his schoolmates outside SM Puchong Perdana yesterday afternoon.

R. Rajkumar, a Form Four student, suffered a cut to the side of his head, another on his left cheek and bruises all over when he was set upon by the group.

Rajkumar, who did not attend school yesterday, was waiting to pick up two younger siblings from the adjacent primary school when the incident happened.

He claimed that about 1.15pm, a group of secondary school students approached him and accused him of being in a gang fight the previous day.

"I told them they had mistaken me for someone else but they did not believe me," he said.

"They then started punching and kicking me. Some of them were also armed with small sticks. I could not fight back as the group was too large."

A security guard from a nearby flat came to Rajkumar's aid and took him to the guard post.

He then lodged a report at Puchong police station, naming three of his assailants.

Rajkumar's father, lorry driver S. Rajandran, 49, and sister, R. Santhara, 19, a college student, both wanted the police to get to the bottom of the incident and bring the culprits to book.

Subang Jaya police chief Assistant Commissioner Zainal Rashid confirmed the report but declined to elaborate as investigations are continuing. -NST