CHENNAI: A 15-year-old boy who was questioned by the police for two days in connection with a motorbike theft case allegedly killed self in a relative’s house on Tuesday. The minor boy C David was physically tortured in the Thiruverkadu police station by policemen who were forcing him to ‘confess’, and the incident forced him to end his life, the family members alleged.
An officer in the Tiruverkadu police station claimed the boy could have killed self since his parents scolded him for bringing bad name to the family since he was involved in a theft. But it is not clear how the police interrogated the minor boy in the police station. The Juvenile Justice Act bars police from interrogating juveniles in the police stations. Only a trained personnel in plain clothes may question juveniles.
The deceased C David, whose family hailed from Andhra, was a school dropout. Both his parents were conservancy workers in Ayapakkam panchayat. On Sunday, he was picked up by the police and said to be questioned in connection with a motorbike theft case.
David’s family said the police allowed him go home on Monday evening, but had told him to return to the station on Tuesday morning. On Monday evening, he left for a relative’s house and on Tuesday morning he was found dead in the house.
The family told media that the police had gagged him in the station and assaulted him severely, trying to force out a confession from him. The boy killed himslef in fear of further harassment, said the kin.
When contacted by Express, an officer in the Thiruverkadu police station did not dispute that David was questioned in the case. “But he probably took his life because his parents scolded him for bringing disrepute to the family,” the officer told Express.