(By Denis Greenan).
The younger of two boys who
allegedly set fire to a homeless man near Verona on December 13
has admitted killing the man for kicks, Italian police said on
Friday.
The 13-year-old boy said he and his 17-year-old companion
made "partial admissions" about the terrible "prank" they played
on a 64-year-old Moroccan found burned to a cinder in his car at
Santa Maria di Zevio near Verona, police said after the incident
gained major headlines.
Given his age, the younger boy is not liable to arrest or
detention, judicial sources said.
The fire on the old Fiat Bravo containing Ahamed Fdil was set
using a number of rolls of kitchen paper, perhaps taken from a
nearby pizzeria, police said.
It is not clear whether they were thrown into the vehicle or
under it, police said.
Police said they were awaiting the results of an autopsy on
the victim.
This will not be carried out before next week, judicial
sources said.
The second boy is also liable to arrest because he is under
18 and thus a minor.
Both alleged perpetrators will therefore be handled by a
juvenile court, judicial sources said.
Local residents said the pair frequently pestered the
homeless man, throwing firecrackers at him.
"It was a joke, we didn't do it on purpose," Il Corriere del
Veneto quoted the minors as saying.
The case is not the first in which homeless people have been
killed for kicks in Italy.
On several other occasions, however, homeless people have
been found burned to death after accidentally setting themselves
on fire.
Pope Francis has on several occasions spoke out about the
plight of the homeless.
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