A child is among the latest victims of the wave of violent crime sweeping Antigua and Barbuda, after four young men brutally assaulted an 11-year-old boy in a brazen attempt to rob him of his bicycle in broad daylight in the Golden Grove Extension community.
Police are investigating reports that the 11-year-old was assaulted during an attempted robbery on Friday evening. The incident reportedly occurred around 5:00 p.m. on June 5 when four young men allegedly attacked the child and tried to steal his bicycle.
According to reports, the boy resisted and held on to the bicycle. The attackers then allegedly struck him repeatedly about the body with a glass bottle. The suspects were unable to take the bicycle and fled the area.
A relative later reported the matter to investigators. Police inquiries into the incident are ongoing.
No arrests had been made at the time of publication.
The attack on a child — beaten with a glass bottle by a group of four for refusing to give up his bicycle — is among the most disturbing incidents in a deeply troubling week for public safety in Antigua and Barbuda. It follows the murder of Sheldon Dias in Mock Pond, the brutal beating of two Russian sailors on Popeshead Street, the stabbing of a man outside a phone store on St. Mary’s Street, and the iron pipe assault on a supermarket owner at Wilkinson’s Cross — all occurring within the span of a few days.
That a group of young men would target a child in this manner, in a residential community at five o’clock in the afternoon, speaks to an erosion of social restraint that demands urgent, visible, and sustained response from law enforcement, community leaders, and government alike.
Anyone with information about the attack is urged to contact the nearest police station or call Crimestoppers anonymously at 800-TIPS (8477).
