A MAN who claims policemen doused his back with hot water and stoned his ankles while questioning him in relation to a robbery last week remains admitted at the Navua Hospital.
His mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said she was trying to find the strength to forgive the policemen who had allegedly tortured her son.
She said she could not understand why officers had to resort to such cruel, degrading and inhumane acts on another human being.
Manasa Rayasidamu accused police officers of torturing him last Monday after taking him from a friend’s home to the Pacific Harbour Police Post.
The 27-year-old construction worker claimed that when he denied any involvement in the robbery, police stoned his ankles and as he lay on the ground, they poured hot water on his back before stoning his ankles again.
He claimed the officers took him to the Navua Hospital after they had finished torturing him.
When The Fiji Times visited Mr Rayasidamu, he said he was experiencing unbearable pain and suffering great discomfort.
He was lying on his stomach at the hospital as medical staff nursed the burns on his back and wounds on his ankles.
His mother said Mr Rayasidamu had the right to be treated with dignity whether guilty or innocent.
She added that while her son had some issues, no parent should have to endure what she and her husband had been through since he was taken into custody.
She said her son had moved to his friend’s house after some behavioural issues.
Mr Rayasidamu’s father, who also wished not to be named, said police turned up at their Pacific Harbour home on Tuesday last week asking for fresh clothes for his son.
He claimed even when their daughter called police to inquire if her brother was admitted in hospital, they cut short her call.
He said the police officers’ actions contradicted their attempts to build community trust as part of their policing strategy.
Picture: On Wednesday this week, Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho said he would personally monitor an investigation into the incident.
