Maribor - Following a 48-hour detention, a minor who stabbed a peer several times in Maribor last Friday has been ordered to remain in custody. The victim's condition is improving, authorities said on Monday, as they revealed that he had been attacked over a mobile phone.

The attacker was brought before an investigating judge on Sunday after the police filed a criminal complaint against him, and the judge ordered he remain in custody, the Maribor District Court and Maribor Police Department told the STA.

According to media reports, which also carried the victim's father's open letter about the incident, the victim is 17 years old and the attacker 15.

On Friday around 11:30pm, the victim was seriously injured with a sharp object, reportedly a knife, that has not yet been found. The perpetrator fled the scene, but then turned himself in, accompanied by his parents.

Right before the attack took place, the victim was hanging out with friends in a park in the Magdalena borough. The suspect arrived there and lured the victim away from others. He demanded the victim's mobile phone and threatened him with a sharp object.

As the victim refused to hand over the phone, the suspect stabbed him several times. The attacked teen then sought help at a nearby venue, where security staff called the paramedics.

Citing unofficial information, the Večer newspaper reported on Saturday that the attacker had stabbed the victim with a knife at least seven times nearby the alternative culture centre Pekarna where blood stains were still visible at the time.

The victim and the suspect knew each other before the incident, Beno Meglič, Maribor chief inspector, told the press today. The victim, who was on Saturday said to be fighting for his life in hospital, is doing better, he added.

The offence of robbery and that of causing particularly serious bodily harm each carry a prison sentence of 1-10 years.

A minor can also be punished using other ways, such as sending them to a juvenile hall, Meglič said.

To protect the interests of the minors involved in the proceedings, the police are currently unable to provide further information on the incident.