Police in Guyana said today two officers had been arrested over accusations of setting fire to a 14-year-old boy's genitals in a case creating an uproar in the South American nation.

The incident is the latest in a series of rights accusations against President Bharrat Jagdeo's security forces in the former British colony of 750,000 people.

Relatives and rights groups said the boy was tortured at a police station in the rural community of Leonora after being arrested this week in connection with a murder case.

"The genitals of a minor were doused with inflammable liquid and set ablaze. The inside of (his) mouth burnt with cigarettes and extensive wounds sustained from severe beatings despite a senior officer being reportedly in charge of the investigation," the Guyana Human Rights Association said.

A lawyers' group urged a public inquiry, calling the case "chilling" and "abhorrent."

Police said today that two officers had been arrested and would be investigated over allegations of "excessive force."

The case follows a scandal in March over allegations that security forces placed a suspect on an ants' nest as they sought information over cocaine trafficking.

Security forces are also accused of torturing people in several other high-profile cases in 2007 and 2008.