Police in Swaziland reportedly tortured a 15-year-old boy for five hours because he stole E85 (about US$10) from his mother.
Mbabane Police have not denied the accusation from the boy that they used a slasher and a knobkerrie on him.
The Times Sunday newspaper reported today (1 April 2012) that the boy’s parents contacted the police when they found E85 in cash was stolen. The boy admitted to his mother that he had taken the money.
Instead of being charged with theft the 15-year-old boy was taken from his home to the Mbabane police station where he was tortured for five hours. The police are also alleged to have threatened to shoot him, the newspaper reported.
The newspaper reported the boy saying, ‘One of the officers went out of the office we were in and came back with a slasher and a knobkerrie. They then began to beat me. They said I should lie down as they wanted to beat me with the slasher on my buttocks. I did exactly that. Each time I cried, they would beat me with the knobkerrie on the head and tell me to keep quiet. In the process, I was told to count all the strokes and shout the number for them to hear.’
He said after he had been beaten, another police officer, a senior one, brought a gun and threatened to shoot him.
He added, ‘After the beating, I was then given a chair to sit on while waiting to be taken home. When I told them that I could not sit because my backside was sore, I was forced to sit for more than 30 minutes before I was taken back home.’
The boy’s father said he wanted the police who allegedly tortured his son arrested.
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