Pretoria father arrested for breaking curfew rules to buy baby milk
A Centurion couple are taking legal action against the Wierdabrug police station after the man was arrested in the early hours of last week Friday for breaking curfew when he went out to buy formula milk for his two-day-old infant.
The baby had difficulty breastfeeding so the father rushed to the Clicks store in the Netcare Unitas Hospital at 01:30.
The hospital is open 24 hours a day.
South Africa is currently in adjusted level 3 lockdown, with a curfew between 21:00 and 05:00.
Family lawyer Lily Rautenbach, from Lily Rautenbach Attorneys, told Pretoria Rekord that the incident happened “mere” metres from the couple’s home on Friday, 8 January 2021.
“I can confirm that we are opening a case against the police officers involved in the incident, as it clearly was an emergency situation,” Rautenbach said.
According to Rautenbach, the father presented the police officers with the purchase slip from the pharmacy, but they arrested him anyway.
“The police officers did not allow my client to take the milk home to his wife and infant. He was forced to call his wife and have them walk to the scene where he was arrested, a few metres down the street from their residence,” she said.
“I learnt about the incident very early that morning. When I got there at approximately 06:15, the authorities only wanted to grant him his day in court in two months’ time.
“We, however, moved his court appearance to next week and he was released at roughly 11:00.”
According to Rautenbach, the couple were very upset and traumatised by the incident and plan to take all steps necessary.
Despite numerous attempts to get comment from the police, they are yet to respond at the time of publication.
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