03 April 2017•Update: 04 April 2017
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
British detectives investigating a suspected hate crime that left a 17-year-old asylum seeker in a critical condition have released images of three people they want to speak to.
The Metropolitan Police statement said nine people had been arrested so far following the shocking incident which took place minutes before midnight on March 31.
The Kurdish-Iranian teenager was kicked and punched by a gang after they chased him from a bus stop in Croydon, south London.
He was waiting at the stop with two friends when the group asked him where he was from and he replied he was an asylum seeker.
The gang then set about the teen, leaving him seriously injured.
Police have confirmed the victim remains in a south London hospital.
“His condition is described as serious but stable, and is not believed to be life-threatening,” it added.
Gavin Barwell, a local member of the British parliament, reacted angrily to the attack, describing the assailants as "scum" in a Twitter message.
Barwell said he was “appalled” by the incident and urged the public to come forward if they had any information.
“I think most people in Croydon will be as appalled as I am that what appears to have happened is a young man who came to this country seeking sanctuary has apparently been targeted because of his ethnic background.
“It’s an appalling crime, and I hope the people responsible are caught quickly and receive the full force of British justice,” he wrote.
The U.K. Refugee Council described the incident as “absolutely disgusting”.
