Two brothers from Forderville are accusing local police of assault and heavy-handedness after they were allegedly beaten and threatened a day after national lockdown was enforced in March.
The brothers (aged 23 and 18), who declined to be named for fear of further victimisation, said that they ventured out of their homes on March 28 to purchase bread from a tuck shop in 13th Street.
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“While we were on our way to the shop at about 11am, we were stopped by police officers in two marked vehicles. One of the officers had a sjambok and started assaulting us. They asked us where we were going, but before we could answer, they continued assaulting us. They did not give us a chance to answer any of their questions,” said the older brother.
The young men attempted to escape and rubber bullets were allegedly fired at them.
“We ran away and waited for about 30 to 45 minutes in a yard. We came out when we thought it was safe. We were injured; I was shot with a rubber bullet and had been injured in my ribs, while my brother’s arm had a rubber bullet wound. At this stage, we did not have shoes or our cell-phones. We later got our cell-phones from where they had been discarded by the police,” said the fearful 23-year-old.
The brothers made their way home, where they related their ordeal to their family. The family did not lay a formal complaint at the police station, fearing that they would be victimised for further flouting lockdown rules.
“We were terrified and really upset. This was no way to approach us. We were treated like animals,” they said.
Responding to the allegations, police spokesperson Captain Bongani Nyathi confirmed that no complaint was lodged at Estcourt Community Service Centre.
Captain Nyathi explained the procedure that residents can follow when making a complaint relating to police.
“A person can call the police using the toll-free 08600-10111 number or the direct number for the police station to send a patrol van to you to assist you in opening a charge. Estcourt police station can be contacted on 036-342-9525. You can also walk straight into the nearest police station to lay a complaint at the charge office or utilise the ‘MySAPS’ app to contact the police,” says Captain Nyathi.
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