Maputo — The five members of the Mozambican police force (PRM), accused of torturing a couple suspected of theft in the southern municipality of Homoine, will remain in preventive detention until their trial.

An investigating magistrate of the Inhambane Provincial Law Court took this decision last Friday, after questioning the five men.

According to a report in Thursday's issue of the independent newssheet "Mediafax', the magistrate agreed with the prosecution that the five pose a flight risk, and, since they are police officers, there is also a risk that, if left at liberty, they might attempt to interfere in the investigation.

The five, who include the head of operations of the Homoine District Police Command, are charged with five crimes, of which the most serious is the torture and inhuman treatment of the two supposed thieves.

The torture session was caught on camera. A video, circulated widely on Mozambican social media, shows the woman screaming in pain as she is beaten on the soles of her feet. The torturers also trampled on her head and torso.

Although not shown in the video, according to Inhambane prosecutor Pompilio Xavier, worse injuries were inflicted on the man, who suffered a broken left leg.

The torture was inflicted in an attempt to extract confessions from the two alleged thieves. This, Xavier said, was not only brutal but also futile, "since any evidence obtained by means of torture is null and void, and cannot be used in court'.