An 18-year-old boy was arrested on Tuesday at the IES Torrevigía Institute, which he attends for Vocational Training, after stabbing a classmate in the back in front of the rest of the students and his teacher.
The detainee student is of Pakistani origin and, according to witnesses, he stabbed his 17-year-old collegue, of Spanish nationality, because he blasphemed his religion. The aggressor is Muslim and, according to the Civil Guard, the attack was motivated by an argument between the two that occurred in class the previous day, when the victim ridiculed Islam, something corroborated by other students.
The victim was initially treated by the institute’s teachers and later the medical services of SAMU. The youth had three stab wounds in his back, arm and on his face, although his wounds were not serious. He was transferred to the Torrevieja Hospital as a precaution.
According to witnesses, as classes got underway the alleged aggressor, an 18-year-old student, stabbed his colleague in the back with a large knife that he brought into the classroom with him, without saying a word. The aggression was brutal to the point that the knife blade bent. When the injured man turned around, the alleged aggressor then caused a cut to his face.
It was the students themselves and the teacher who separated the attacker to keep him from further assaulting his classmate. At the time of the event there were 21 students in the classroom, who all witnessed the attack.
The victim, according to the testimony of the students, had previous arguments with the aggressor. Adam, a student, said he has known the aggressor for 3 or 4 years and that it was “a big surprise” because he had no knowledge of there being a bad relationship with the victim, indeed quite the opposite. However, he admitted that the victim had recently made fun of the aggressor. “It was quite frightening, because it is quite nervous to see anyone take out a knife in the college.”
The director of the institute, Carlos Irles, said that “we had an random incident but we acted with total diligence and in coordination with management procedures.” Irles said that the students who had witnessed the incident were sent to their homes “so that they could recover from what would have been a frightening incident.” The Councillor for Education Ricardo Recuero, after meeting with the head teacher, indicated that the Plan for the Prevention of Violence and Promotion of Coexistence was applied and he wanted to “thank the rapid response of the school and the health and security services.”
He said that there would be a number of psychologists at the institute during the course of the week to chat to the students and teachers who witnessed the brutal attack.
The alleged perpetrator of the assault, which occurred at 8.50 am, was initially arrested by agents of the Local Police before being handed over to the Civil Guard. He is expected to appear before a court in the next days or two.
