IOL News reports that a Western Cape police officer accused of assaulting a 13-year-old boy with a sjambok has been released on R2,000 bail.
Constable Jaco Justin Oktober of the Lutzville SA Police Service (SAPS) Detective Unit appeared in the Lutzville Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said Oktober allegedly assaulted the boy by hitting him with a sjambok on his face, back and legs after the boy was arrested for alleged theft. Oktober was arrested on Friday and released on condition he did not go to Lutzville area, except when he was attending court, until the finalisation of the case. The matter was postponed to 29 October for further investigations. Earlier, the Daily Voice reported that angry residents called on the provincial police commissioner to intervene after it was found that the injured boy had been left in a holding cell for two days after the sjambok attack. Community leader Sarah Bakamela claimed that the boy was badly beaten all over his body and he was even hit in the eye. He was later taken to the hospital where the doctor wrote an extensive report.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sinenhlanhla Masilela at IOL News
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