Egypt police sued for boy's death

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The Egyptian family of a 13-year-old boy who died after being released from custody are suing the police for allegedly torturing their son to death.

Mohammed Mahmoud Abdelaziz was detained in Mansoura on suspicion of theft 10 days ago, and spent six days being violently beaten, they said.

The BBC's Ranyah Moukhtour in Cairo said that his mother visited him at the police station and found him bandaged.

This comes after a string of incidents involving police abuse in Egypt.

Correspondents says torture is becoming systematic in Egypt's jails and police stations.

The Egyptian government has denied reports of police abuse in the past.

Badly beaten

Mohammed's family said they arrived at the main police station to bring their son home and found him badly beaten.

After four days at home, he was taken to hospital, where he died.

Last week, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights said it had documented 567 cases of torture in police custody since 1993, 167 of which resulted in death.

The report was based on individual testimonies, legal cases and medical and autopsy reports.

It also included 26 cases of police torture recorded this year alone, which resulted in three deaths.