A Nicosia district court hearing into the death of 14-year-old Stylianos Constantinou has been adjourned until Tuesday, after the prosecution requested the delay. The trial will resume at 11am in Nicosia, where a new prosecution witness is expected to testify. The case concerns Stylianos’ suicide in September 2019 and whether responsibility lies with members of his family and state services. Court proceedings focus on allegations of abuse or neglect within the family, including whether his mother was aware of incidents and failed to report them, and whether officials from Social Welfare Services adequately assessed and acted on information available to them. On Friday, two police officers gave evidence about a 2013 assault on Stylianos and a later report in which his mother said she feared for her safety. Sergeant TN, who worked at Pera Chorio-Nisou police station between 2012 and 2014, described a complaint she made on May 14, 2013. She reported that her husband struck Stylianos in the face the previous day at the family farm, and that when she intervened he attacked her and pulled her hair. Stylianos reportedly left the farm on foot. The court heard the incident was triggered, according to the complaint, by the death of a sheep. Stylianos and his mother were taken to hospital, where doctors found bruising on the left side of the boy’s face, while no visible injuries were identified on his mother. The sergeant said arrangements were made for Stylianos to give a video-recorded statement, but his mother initially refused because she did not want him to relive what had happened. Stylianos later gave his statement on July 7, 2013, after written consent was obtained from Social Welfare Services. The court heard that on December 3, 2014, Stylianos’ father received a three-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, for assaulting the minor. The mother had withdrawn her own complaint. During cross-examination, the sergeant acknowledged she was not present when the recorded statement was taken, and she said officers had followed instructions from their superior when asked why the father had not been arrested. Under cross-examination, police constable HT said he could not remember whether the father was present when police arrived and could not rule out the possibility that the mother had falsely claimed he was there. The trial remains ongoing, with the next hearing scheduled for Tuesday at 11am at Nicosia district court.