He was told to do 150 push-ups and when the 14-year-old's chest began to hurt and he complained, a police officer allegedly kicked his leg and fractured it.

During his overnight detention at the Shah Alam Section 11 police station, the boy was also hit with a rubber hose, smacked with a slipper, punched with a boxing glove, had his toes stepped on and shorts pulled down.

The youth, accused of theft, was also warned against mentioning a word about the abuse at the Shah Alam magistrate's court where he was taken to obtain a remand order, without his parents' knowledge.

Incensed by the incident, his father has vowed to take the matter to court and has engaged the services of lawyers P Uthayakumar and M Manoharan.

Relating his ordeal at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, the boy said he was arrested at his house in Kampung Jawa around 5am on Aug 8 by a team of police officers.

He was then taken to the Shah Alam Section 11 police station, where he was accused of committing a theft, which he vehemently denied.

The school dropout was then verbally abused and told to do the push-ups on the interrogation room floor.

"When I told them I could not do it anymore, one officer kicked my right leg. I do not know his name, but I can point him out to you if I see him.

"Another police officer (name withheld) accused me of stealing metal parts but I told him I did not steal anything," he said.

Remand order

He was then placed in a lock-up with a friend who was accused of the same crime and later taken to the magistrate's court in handcuffs.

"One police officer told me that if I mentioned being beaten to the magistrate, I would be beaten as soon as we got back to the police station," he said.

Fearing for his safety, the boy kept mum on the incident while the magistrate, despite a cautionary note to the officers not to handcuff the boy or assault him, issued a five-day remand order.

As soon as he was taken back to the police station, another round of taunts and abuse awaited him.

First, he was told by a police officer to confess to the crime in order to make it easier on himself.

"The police officer told me to hit one of the male detainees in the room, an Indonesian, with my slipper. When I refused, he took my slipper and struck my head hard with it. After that, I did hit the detainee but only lightly."

The police officer allegedly left the room and returned with a length of rubber hose. "He hit me hard across the head with it. I felt like fainting at that point."

That night, the boy was awakened by three police officers who allegedly took him from his cell to the vicinity of Taman Maznah in Klang.

A security guard at the residential area was asked if this was the boy whom he had seen stealing a motorcycle.

"The security guard told the police officers it wasn't me. 'This is a small boy. The thief was an adult', he told them."

Back at the police station, he was again interrogated and persuaded to confess to the theft.

At one point, the boy claimed that an officer pretended to check his shorts but jerked it down to his knees.

"When I pulled my shorts up, he told me to go back to my cell," he said.

Boxing glove

In another questioning session the next morning, the investigating officer allegedly put on a boxing glove and punched the boy on the head.

The boy was also ordered to pick up the garbage and cigarette butts from the floor of the room.

He was later granted a police bond of RM1,000 and released late in the afternoon into the custody of his father M Muniandy.

The father only came to realise the extent of his son's abuse when the boy woke up at night crying in pain and complaining of breathing difficulty.

"At the Klang Hospital, the doctor at the emergency ward told me my son had suffered a fracture of the leg. He also had bruises on his head.

"He told me to go to the police station to file a report. That's what I did," said the retired factory worker.

When contacted, the investigating officer named by the boy denied the allegations.

Seeking redress

Meanwhile his lawyers, Uthayakumar and Manoharan told malaysiakini that the family will demand redress on grounds of allegedly violating provisions of the Child Act.

Of particular grievance was the police handcuffing the boy, the alleged assault and verbal abuses, the remand order application without the knowledge of the parents, as well as the early morning excursion to Taman Maznah.

Prison regulations state that detainees are not to be removed from the lock up after 6:30 pm.

"(Aside from the officers directly involved, we will also be filing our civil suit for vicarious liability against the (Royal Malaysian) Police, the Inspector-General of Police, the police chief of Selangor and national police chief, and the government," said Manoharan.

Uthayakumar said letters on the matter will be sent to the law minister Sheikh Radzi Sheikh Ahmad and the Attorney-General's office, to request for an 'expeditious' prosecution of the officers involved.

"Normally when a case is with regards to police officers, the prosecution against them is very slow. We will be requesting the Attorney-General that he use the same standard used to prosecute other criminals on these police officers," he added.