The family of a boy who was involved in the Rasdhoo bullying case has apologized publicly.

A video of two boys bullying and physically assaulting a peer inside the restroom of a mosque in Alif Alif Rasdhoo went viral over the weekend on social media.

Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were involved in the assault on the 12-year-old boy last Friday night. After a video of the assault circulated on social media, a team of police from Male' went to Rasdhoo and identified the two children who were involved.

A Facebook account named Aal Ali, who claimed to be the family of 14-year-old Rizan who participated in the assault, condemned the attack on behalf of the family. She said that the family is saddened to realize that the victim will suffer lifelong trauma from the incident.

“…We regretfully apologize to the victim and his family,” she wrote.

She added that the family was forced to make the statement after a member of the family wrote on social media that the victim should have been killed.

“We learnt of this incident after a [Facebook] page shared screenshots of the comments. After these screenshots became viral, the society began perceiving this family as one that encourages bullying. But the opinion expressed by her in these screenshots are not shared by this family,” she said.

She said that the family does not condone violence and has no intention of defending the 14-year-old boy involved in the incident.

She added that family believes he deserves to be punished for his actions, and is cooperating with relevant authorities to mete out the punishment.

The family asked for cooperation from the public and authorities to rehabilitate and have the boy made a productive member of the society.