COIMBATORE: A video of five persons, suspected to be minors, brutally assaulting a 19-year-old youth following a petty quarrel in Coimbatore has gone viral on social media.

The injured, identified by police as Vetri (19) and working in a second-hand car selling firm, have been admitted to hospital with severe injuries.

Police said Vetri, along with his friend Praveen (20), both residing in a rented room at KK Nagar near Bharathi Nagar, were returning to their room on foot after visiting a nearby shop on Tuesday night, when the incident happened.

While passing through the KK Nagar area, they had a brief altercation with a teenager coming through the way.

The public intervened and persuaded them to go. In a short while, the teenager brought along four others and confronted Vetri.

The argument suddenly escalated into a fight with the five boys surrounding and assaulting him severely.

They pushed down Vetri and smashed his head with a stone, causing grievous injuries. As residents rushed out of their houses on hearing loud cries, the assailants fled away from the spot. The injured youth was immediately rushed to a hospital for treatment.

Upon receiving the information, the Saravanampatti police rushed to the scene and traced the assailants to be from nearby Gandhi Nagar and KK Nagar localities. Police have secured some of the assailants, all aged below 18 years and are conducting an inquiry.