Is it possible to drink half a litre of hydrochloric acid without suffering any damage to the oral cavity, even though it eats the stomach away? This is the question that Gyula Tihanyi has been asking for 15 years. Until he gets an answer to this question, he refuses to accept the military authorities' version of his son's death. This elderly man is expected to believe that his son killed himself in May 1990 whilst doing his compulsory military service in Lenti. He supposedly drank half a litre of hydrochloric acid before jumping from a second floor window of his garrison's sick bay, later succumbing to his injuries in Zalaegerszeg Hospital. All this happened, according to the autopsy report, with no damage being done by the acid to the boy's mouth, tongue or lips.
Tihanyi has until now insisted in vain that his son was killed. But this week the Military Prosecutor's Office in Gy őr has ordered a new investigation into the case. According to the prosecutor, this happened because a woman reported her own son, who was a junior officer in Lenti at the time, saying that he may have been involved in Private Tihanyi's death.
According to the Association of Hungarian Victims of the Law (MJE), there have been at least 130 suspicious fatal accidents or suicides involving young people doing compulsory military service over the past 25 years. Mrs. János Pozsár, who runs the organization, which was set up in 1990, also lost her son during his military service. According to the official report, he was the victim of an accident – killed by a poorly secured gun. But she believes that her son was killed and, as she says, she will not rest until she has proven this.