The senior officer who was in charge of the Sister’s Police Station, where ranks reportedly brutalised a nine-year-old boy, has been relieved of his duty as Station Sergeant.
Ranvanlee Chan, of Sister's Village, East Bank Berbice, claimed he was beaten with a tamarind whip, a broom and a belt on January 1.
The child, a student of Friend's Primary School, was accused of stealing $6,000 from a neighbour’s house. 
Attorney-at-Law Charrandass Persaud clarified, yesterday, that Chan is not 10 years old, as was reported earlier.
The lawyer said that at his age, Chan could not legally commit a crime, and even if he did, the worst atrocity was the punishment meted out to him.
“Ranvanlee Chan has not yet celebrated his 10th birthday. He was born on September 30, 1998. He is just a few months into his 10th year. This means that, in the eyes of the law, he cannot commit a crime…but what was so heinous about the crime, if it was committed, was that such punishment was meted out,” Persaud related.
Persaud says he is very disturbed at the horrific abuse meted out to the child in the 21st Century by uniformed upholders of the law.

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The lawyer says he would be seeking the advice of Minister of Social Services, Priya Manickchand, with a view to erasing the trauma Chan sustained during the incident.
The attorney says he hopes that the episode will serve as an impetus for police officers to adopt professional methods of handling people in custody.
Persaud was adamant that the beating did take place, and Chan was under police guard at the New Amsterdam Hospital from January 3 to Jan 5, 2008.
After the police guards left, on January 5, Chan remained in hospital for another week.
According to Persaud, the police were amazed that the cruelty, although openly perpetrated, was given widespread media attention.
Persaud mentioned that his intervention in the matter was not about money, but about fighting an injustice.
He says that, rather than appeasing the matter, police attempted to distort the facts by giving the impression that charges would not be laid since relatives offered to reimburse the neighbour.
“Ranvanlee Chan is from a tiny village…and is living with parents who can barely afford to live, except with the help of relatives. So how can the mother offer to pay back the $6000? The greatest concern of the parents was that they couldn’t afford to pay me to take up the matter, and I am doing this pro-bono,” the attorney revealed.
He added that should he “sit back and allow this type of cruelty to go unpunished because of a few dollars or lack thereof, he would be failing his dead father and those who contributed to his career”.
“I was told by very close friends that I should not be fighting with the police like this, but am I fighting with the police? I am fighting an injustice. I am trying to prevent this type of atrocious behaviour, by our police force, from recurring,” Persaud related.
The lawyer says he is satisfied that, after his meeting with Divisional Commander Clinton Conway, an internal investigation has been mounted and the senior officer has been relieved of his responsibilities.
Persaud pointed out that after rethinking the options, he has concluded that legal action may not be in the best interest of the child.
Chan and his aunt were escorted to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in New Amsterdam of Wednesday to identify the officers responsible.
“I am confident that the matter would be dealt with appropriately and the investigation is moving at a very rapid pace,” Persaud said.