NY Daily News: Muslim teen beaten, called a ‘terrorist’ by classmates says he stayed silent out of fear

A Muslim boy says four bullies made his life a living hell in the halls of a Staten Island public school, calling him a “terrorist” and beating him every chance they got.

The victim, a 16-year-old high school freshman, told his father and the police of the constant abuse he endured, prompting the arrests Sunday of his teen tormenters on suspicion of hate crimes.

“[They] punched me in my groin, and I fell to the floor. They started kicking me, and calling me ‘You f—in’ terrorist,’ ‘You f—in’ Muslim,'” the victim, Kristian, told the Daily News.

Word of Kristian’s emotionally scarring ordeal comes during a disturbing spike in hate crimes across the city, highlighted by Friday’s sadistic Bronx gang torture of two teens and an adult because they were gay.

Kristian – his voice shaky, his hands clenched in his lap – and his parents spoke to The News on grounds their last name not be used.

The boy, the American-born, only child of Trinidadian immigrants, said the abuse began in October 2009 while he was a student at the Edwin Markham Intermediate School. He said the almost-daily abuse didn’t end until he graduated from the school in June.

He finally told his father when he began his freshman year last month at Port Richmond High School and saw two of the bullies sitting in one of his classes; he hasn’t returned to class since.

“I think I can’t go through a year like this again,” said the soft-spoken victim, who first told his story to the Staten Island Advance.

The four suspects – three 14-year-old Latinos and a 15-year-old African-American – were arrested on charges of assault and aggravated harassment – both as hate crimes. They were all released to their parents and are expected to be formally charged as early as today as minors. Their names were not made public.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/10/11/2010-10-11_si_muslim_teen_beaten_mocked_by_classmates.html?r=news#ixzz12AJP6kTU