Seven suspects will remain in custody over the beating of a 16-year-old in Latsia on October 9, Phileleftheros understands. The boy, who suffered a broken nose, told police he was punched and kicked by a group while he lay on the ground.
The suspects are being investigated for conspiracy to commit a felony and a misdemeanour, grievous bodily harm, assault causing actual bodily harm, and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
In seeking their remand, police told the court that the offences were serious and the investigation was at an early stage. They argued that releasing the suspects could lead to witnesses being influenced, evidence being destroyed or going missing, and interference with the investigation. In the case of the adult suspect, police also cited the risk that he could flee abroad or to the occupied north.
The dispute
In his statement, the 16-year-old said he had been in a relationship with a girl, also a minor, from May 2025 until September 2026. He said the relationship ended after arguments, and told police that his former girlfriend had been spreading claims that he hit her.
According to the same information, friends of the girl, including four of the suspects, reacted when they heard he may have been beating her and set up a group on Instagram. The group included the 16-year-old and two other people who are being sought. Through calls and messages, they asked him to meet to settle their differences. They also told him they had heard he had been insulting them, which he denied.
The attack
The meeting was arranged for 8pm on October 9, behind a fast-food outlet in Latsia, and the 16-year-old asked two friends to go with him. Shortly before the meeting, he was asked to go to the car park of a secondary school in Latsia instead, but refused and insisted on the place they had agreed, according to his statement.
When he arrived, in a car driven by one of his friends, about 20 people were there, including his former girlfriend, he told police. Two of the suspects went up to the car and told him to get out. When he refused, one of them allegedly opened the door.
Once he got out, he stood in front of the first suspect and said: “Tell me, what do you want to talk about?”, according to his statement. He was then kicked in the jaw, he said, and the blows allegedly continued all over his body as he tried to get away.
He fell to the ground and the first suspect kept hitting him in the face, he told police. While he was still down, the other six suspects and another person allegedly came over and kicked him. When he managed to get up and tried to return to the car, the first suspect allegedly pulled him back and hit him again.
His statement also refers to another, unidentified person, who he said came up to him and started punching him, asking whether he “beats girls”. He allegedly fell to the ground again and the beating continued.
An examination at Nicosia General Hospital found a broken nose, as well as swelling and a soft-tissue haematoma around the left eye socket and the left maxillary sinus, Phileleftheros understands.
He left when someone helped him into his friends’ car. Once home, he went straight to his bedroom so that his mother would not see he had been beaten, he said. The next day he told his parents and went with his mother to Latsia police station to report it. Because of the seriousness of his injuries, the case was referred to Nicosia CID.
The video
The 16-year-old also said in his statement that on October 10 his former girlfriend sent his mother a video showing parts of the beating. The video was handed to police. According to the same information, a preliminary review of the footage found that while he was on the ground being hit, people present threatened him, saying: “Don’t you dare snitch.”
The investigation
Arrest warrants were issued on October 13. Five of the suspects did not reply when cautioned and one said “OK”, Phileleftheros understands. The adult suspect, speaking through an interpreter, said: “I didn’t hit anyone. Do your job.”
Authorities are also expected to examine whether another person acted as a mastermind, pushing the suspects into the acts under investigation.
Investigators have taken ten statements, and about 35 more are still to be taken. They are still trying to trace people who were present, most of them minors, as well as the boy’s friends and two more suspects. They are also seeking the Instagram group, CCTV footage and the person who made the video, and four mobile phones have been seized for forensic examination.
