GEORGE TOWN, June 13 — Eighteen-year-old T. Nhaveen should have arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday to begin life as a music student but life dealt him a cruel blow.

The boy, who wanted to do something with his life, after seeing his mother slog as a factory worker, is in a coma in the Penang Hospital.

On Friday, a group of school bullies set on him and a friend, T. Previin, 19, as they were on their way to a burger stall at about 11pm.

It started when the bullies teased them. When they were told to "mind their own business”, the group called in two other boys.

The six then attacked Nhaveen and Previin with helmets and sticks. Previin suffered a gash to his head but managed to escape. He headed straight for Navheen’s home in Taman Tun Sardon, Gelugor, about two kilometres away.

A search was immediately mounted for him. Three hours later, they received a call from the police informing them that Navheen was at Penang Hospital.

At the hospital yesterday, Nhaveen’s uncle, M. Vincent, said Nhaveen had recovered from a benign growth in the brain about three months ago.

"Nhaveen was warded at the intensive care unit in this hospital and he recovered,” he said.

Vincent said Nhaveen managed to sit for the SPM examinations and was set to study music at a college in Kuala Lumpur.

After he completed his SPM, he worked at a supermarket in Queensbay Mall to help supplement his family’s income.

He and his sister were raised by his mother, D. Shanti, 45, after she separated from their father several years ago.

According to Vincent, his nephew was pampered by his relatives because of his good looks and nature.

"My nephew was supposed to leave on an express bus to Kuala Lumpur today (yesterday). But he is now fighting for his life.”

According to sources, Nhaveen was targeted by the school bullies because he was a timid and gentle person. However, he never seemed to let the bullying affect him. He is said to be "a carefree teenager and a doting son”.

At the hospital yesterday, the family’s lawyer Baljit Singh told a press conference the doctors have informed the family that he was "clinically brain dead”.

He urged the hospital and the police to probe the matter with urgency.

Shanti, who was present, was wailing uncontrollably as family members pleaded for justice to be served.

The family was shocked to learn that Nhaveen was believed to have been sodomised.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Anuar Omar said six suspects were picked up over the weekend.

"The doctor’s examination showed he had injuries to his anus caused by a blunt object. There were also burn marks on his back,” said Anuar.

*Editor’s note: Some errors in the print edition have since been corrected here.