Pretoria - A trip to Zebediela in Limpopo to attend his sister’s lobola function turned into a nightmare for a general labourer. He was, for no reason, arrested and detained for three days and during this time stripped naked and severely beaten.
The high court in Pretoria ordered the police - the taxpayer - to pay R453 000 in damages to Solomon Ranamani, 49.
He initially claimed R1.1 million.
He went to Zebediela on January 30, 2011, but before attending his sister’s festivities, he decided to have a quick beer with a friend at a nearby tavern.
Police arrived and demanded to search his car for weapons.
They could not find anything, but nevertheless took him to the local police station and locked him in a cell.
He was fetched the next morning by SAPS officials, who assaulted him with a stick on his buttocks and legs. Ranamani was then taken to several shops belonging to Indians in town, who earlier claimed they had been robbed. The shop owners told the police he was definitely not the person who robbed them.
But instead of freeing him, the police took him back to the tavern, where his car was parked and searched it again.
They tied his legs together and took him back to the police station, where he was told to sit in a small room. He was stripped naked and the police officials hit him with batons across his body and banged his head against the floor.
Ranamani was kept in the cell for three days, before he was simply told to go home.
He went to a doctor, who in a statement to court said he had multiple and severe bruises and cuts on his head, back, hands and legs.
The police admitted he was arrested and detained for no reason and assaulted by police officers.
Ranamani told a psychologist that he was terrified, confused and in constant pain during his detention and subsequent assaults.
He found the entire experience painful and humiliating and he still had nightmares.
He feels anger and sadness when he sees an SAPS official.
To add to his misery, the people in the community where he lived viewed him as a criminal because of his arrest.
Ranamani said he could not understand why he was further detained and beaten after the business owners said he had nothing to do with the robberies.
The court questioned how members of the SAPS, who were supposed to uphold the law, could humiliate a person to such an extent by stripping him naked, followed by severe assaults.
He was not allowed to call his lawyer and no reason was given to him for his arrest. The police tried to minimise the amount of damages awarded to Ranamani by telling the court that his ordeal was not as severe as he claimed it to be.
His lawyer, Tim Vlok, said they were very happy that their client will be compensated for his horrific ordeal.
“I hope this serves as a message to the police that they should follow the law and treat people with dignity,” he said.
Pretoria News