TikTok video shows boy beaten in Tetovo; months later police have not identified perpetrators
Father says the February attack was filmed and uploaded to TikTok; police registered the case as misuse of personal data and say inquiries continue.
TikTok footage of an assault on an 11-year-old boy in Tetovo has been circulating online since February, but the perpetrators have not been identified months later, the boy's father says.
The father told local media that a group of older children beat his son, recorded the attack and posted the video on TikTok. The family reports that the footage targets children of Macedonian ethnicity and contains vulgar content; the case has been registered at the police as misuse of personal data.
Police say investigations continue
The Interior Ministry (MVR) says it is working to clarify the reported incidents. According to the ministry, "this year, of 12 cases, five already have misdemeanor proceedings for parents, and the others are in the process of completion." The ministry added that for every reported case it immediately notifies the Center for Social Work and duty juvenile prosecutors, and that interviews and hearings are conducted in the presence of parents, social workers and psychologists, which can require expert processing time.
Parents in Tetovo say similar videos appear on social platforms frequently and warn that the violence often has an ethnic component. One parent described the emotional after-effects on the child: "Although he does not show it outwardly, at night he wakes up, sweats, and makes cries he didn't have before. I strongly believe social networks, when such an incident is published, negatively affect a child's psychological development," the parent said.
The boy's father has urged police to treat such cases more seriously. "Events like this are happening in Tetovo unusually often — almost every other day I hear of a child being attacked and not every parent files a report. I believe this can trigger incidents of a larger character; later even the police will be unable to handle it and many people will need to intervene to calm the situation. I want this to be taken as an appeal to higher structures in the police," he said.
Photo: press material from the event
