RENNES, France – Two teenagers were in police custody in north-western France on May 25, a day after an 11-year-old boy was found dead with a wet towel tied around his neck, prosecutors said.
The boy was found on the banks of the Vilaine river in the north-western city of Rennes with a wet bath towel tied tightly around his neck, prosecutors said on May 24.
On May 25, a 16-year-old boy was detained at his home, while a 15-year-old girl was detained after presenting herself to police, Rennes prosecutor Frederic Teillet said in a statement.
“It is therefore the two young people who were seen with the victim at the scene on the afternoon of the incident who are currently in police custody” on charges of “murder of a minor,” Mr Teillet said.
The victim was 11 years old, and not 12 as initially announced, Mr Teillet said.
The boy was found on the banks of the Vilaine river in the French city of Rennes with a wet bath towel tied tightly around his neck, according to the prosecutors.
PHOTO: AFP
The boy’s body was found after a fisherman alerted police to cries of a child in the area, a police source told AFP.
Divers scoured the river on May 25 while numerous police vehicles blocked the area.
“A child of around 10, I can’t believe it,” a 57-year-old walking near the scene who gave his first name as Stephane said. AFP
