Teen held captive, tortured by 4 peers

(ANSA) - Milan, November 20 - A 15-year-old boy was reportedly held captive by a group of four younger boys in a garage in northern Italy recently and tortured for hours to get him to hand over a friend of his who allegedly had drug debts with them. The boy's parents, who reside in Varese, reported the attack to police, according to the La Prealpina newspaper. The victim was reportedly tied to a chair with electric cables, beaten on his feet with a metal bar and threatened with a club spiked with nails and a knife to the throat. The gang were allegedly trying to get the victim to give information about a friend of his who they were looking for.
    A lawyer for the 15-year-old said "his attackers are younger, they frequent the third year of middle school and he saw them outside the school when he went to get his little brother who went to the same institute." He said his client "is having trouble speaking, he's still in shock".
    The lawyer said the boy had been treated in a neuro-psychiatry ward for five days.
    "Tomorrow he will be re-examined by the child psychiatrist.
    He took a lot of punishment, the bruising should heal in 15 days but we don't have forecasts for his psychological state".
    The lawyer said the physical wounds would heal quicky but "we are also faced with deep emotional wounds".
    He was allegedly tortured because he refused to "hand over" his friend, who had debts with the gang after buying marijuana from them, the lawyer said.
    "It wasn't much, 30 or 40 euros," said the lawyer, saying "ferocity of this kind for this motive is really incredible".