Padang Police Close Case Over Suspected Fatal Torture of Teenager in Custody – Archipelago

Lina Portman2 days ago

0 2 minutes read

Police in Padang, Sumatra, have closed their investigation into the death of a 13-year-old boy, identified as AM, who was allegedly beaten to death by police officers, saying they found no evidence of abuse.

On June 9, residents discovered the high school student's battered body in a river near a village in Padang.

According to reports, AM was among dozens of teenagers arrested by Kuranji police for allegedly planning to get into a fight. Rumors then spread that the teenager had been beaten to death while in police custody.

Padang police chief Inspector General Suharyono, however, denied the allegations, saying AM was killed when he jumped from a high bridge into the river to avoid police detention.

“The cause of the victim's death was six broken ribs that punctured his lungs. The bruises on his body were caused by a cadaverous hare,” Suharyo said on Sunday, as quoted by Kompas.com.

Postmortem lividity, or lividity cadaveris, occurs when blood is deposited in the body after death due to gravity, resulting in discoloration of the skin that resembles bruising.

Also read: Human rights organizations demand transparency in investigation into death of boy allegedly tortured by police

Although police have not found anyone who saw AM jump into the river, Suharyo said one of the other detained teenagers admitted that AM had asked him to jump from the 20-meter-high bridge to escape capture.

Suharyo also said that CCTV footage of the arrest was automatically deleted by the Kuranji police system to create space for new recordings.

“The police station's CCTV footage lasted only 11 days. We tried to restore the footage, but we failed,” he said, adding that police could reopen the case if new evidence emerges.

An initial report from the Padang Legal Aid Institute claimed that police officers beat AM and burned, beat and electrocuted eight other students who were with him at the time.

Local police denied arresting AM, but admitted the possibility of “procedural errors” in handling the fight between students.

Seventeen police officers are expected to face ethics hearings over their allegations of mistreatment of teenagers while in police custody. (final)