MANSEHRA, April 2: A local court on Monday handed over a hearing and speaking impaired boy to police on one-day physical remand for attacking his two cousins with a broken glass bottle in Shungli Bandi area of Oghi tehsil.

Mohammad Waqas, 16, was arrested after he injured his cousins, Iqra, 9, and Alishba, 7, by trying to slit their throats by a broken glass bottle.

The two were on their way home after attending Quran lessons at a local seminary.

People seized the attacker and shifted the injured to Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad, where the condition of one is stated to be critical.

The boy, who was later handed over police, confessed to the attack and said he targeted his cousins for publicly teasing him about his disability.

The Oghi police registered a case against the boy under Section 324 of CrPC and began investigation.

Meanwhile, speakers at a seminar in Mansehra on Monday urged people, especially youth, to work hard for pulling the country out of the current socioeconomic challenges.

Nazria-i-Pakistan Council organised the seminar titled ‘Role of youth in prosperous Pakistan’ where people from all walks of life, including students, showed up in large numbers.

District Bar Association President Shahjahan Khan Swati told participants that until everyone, especially youth, work hard and become true patriotic citizens, the country would continue to be in crisis.

“We all need to work hard because it is the only way to rid the country of poverty, unemployment, energy shortage, terrorism and other challenges,” he said.

Other speakers, who included Zahid Malik, Kanwar Dilshad, Siraj Wahid and Ayub Sabri, said it was time that people work to strengthen the country socially and economically.