13-year-old tortured over phone ‘theft’

Two men allegedly beat a 13-year-old boy with sticks and hammer over allegation of theft in Gazipur on Thursday. 

They also allegedly pressed a needle into one of the fingernails of the victim, police said.

The incident happened in Potka village of Sreepur upazila.

On Friday night, the family members of the victim -- one Sajid of the village -- filed a case against seven people with Sreepur Police Station over the incident. Anwar Hossain, 40, and Sohel, 24, of the same village, are the prime accused. 

According to the case statement, Anwar and Sohel called the boy to their home for work around 8:00am on Thursday and confined him in a room. At one point, the two asked him to return two mobile phones which they claimed were stolen the previous night.

As the boy said he knew nothing about the phones, the two started beating him with sticks and hammer. At one stage, they inserted a needle into one of his fingernails, said the statement.

As he started screaming, locals rushed there and rescued him. He was then admitted to Sreepur Upazila Health Complex.

Later, several locals tried to settle the matter through arbitration which the victim’s family refused, said the boy’s aunt Bushra.

Talking to The Daily Star, doctors at the health complex said the boy had bruises all over his body. He has been released after treatment.

The two suspects have been arrested. Police were raiding different places to arrest the other accused, said Zabedul Islam, officer-in-charge of Sreepur Police Station.

While talking to local journalists before his arrest, Anwar denied beating the boy. According to him, they “just interrogated” him.