HIS face is swollen. He can hardly open his eyes or speak properly. He only cries on and off, thinking of his childhood buddy, T. Nhaveen who died two days ago.

T. Previin, 19, had surgery to fix a broken bone under his right eye, an injury he suffered during an assault on June 9 that left his friend in a coma until his death.

Afraid that Previin would take the news of Nhaveen’s death very badly when he woke up after his surgery, his family kept it from him for over a day.

“My sister told him only yesterday night, or maybe it was early this morning. He took it badly. He has been crying on and off ever since.

“We have been trying to comfort him. There is nothing we can do about what has happened,” the boy’s uncle MGR Devan told The Malaysian Insight.

He said although his injury was not serious, Previin’s doctor said he needed another week to recover.

“The police will want to talk to him again but he can’t give a statement yet,” Devan said.

Previin was also relocated to a “safer location” at the Penang Hospital to recover from his injuries.

He is an important witness in Nhaveen’s case, which has now been reclassified as murder, as they were attacked by the same group.

He managed to escape to get help but Nhaveen’s attackers took him to a different location where they beat him until he lapsed into a coma.

He remained in a coma for six days until his death on Thursday. Doctors also found injuries on his anus and genitals.

Previin helped the police identify five suspects aged between 16 and 18 who were involved in the assault. Some had gone to secondary school with Nhaveen and had bullied them even then.

The five have been in police custody since they were arrested last weekend.

Devan, 57, said Previin and Nhaveen had been friends since their childhood, and were best pals who always spent time together.

“Previin lives with my sister. Nhaveen visited the house very often to hang out with Previin. Our family practically saw the boy grow up.

“What happened to him is very hard to accept. Many people find it hard to believe that boys could do this to another,” he said.

Devan said his family was also very upset, seeing how Nhaveen’s death had shattered his mother D. Shanti and his 16-year-old younger sister.

“I last saw her at his funeral on Friday afternoon. She kept crying for the loss of her boy as I held her. How can anyone with a heart not feel her pain?”

The artist said there must be justice for Nhaveen, whose murder had attracted attention locally and even abroad.

“Those boys, if they are guilty for Nhaveen’s murder, must face the law and its punishment.” he said.

Northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner Anuar Omar said the police had completed its investigation into the incident. He also said there were no other suspects arrested.

The five are expected to be charged with murder next week. – June 17, 2017.