Three police officers arrested for torture of child in Diyarbakır

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Three police officers were detained yesterday (March 26) for the torture of a 14-year-old child in the predominantly Kurdish-populated province of Diyarbakır.

The three officers were detained for "willful injury" while two others were released after detention, said Nahit Eren, head of the Diyarbakır Bar Association. "The deeds are within the scope of the crime of torture," he wrote on Twitter.

Earlier in the day, the Diyarbakır Governor's Office said the five officers had been suspended from duty and an administrative investigation had been opened against them.

The child identified with the initials Y.D. was hospitalized after "being subjected to battery" on March 21 and discharged from the hospital a day later, the office said in a statement.

Y.D. had been summoned to the Gendarmerie Command in the Lice district to identify the officers who beat him. The child had identified the three officers in the presence of a prosecutor but without their attorney being present, Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported, citing the child's family. (ME/VK)