Cape Town - An Athlone man became the talk of the town after cops stripped him naked in public.
The 56-year-old man says he was left standing naked in front of several curious neighbours – mostly women – simply because he had asked cops a question.
A humiliated Anthony Lotz, 56, from Kewtown, has now laid charges.
The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon in Protea Street.
“A guy who is busy building at my home got arrested down the street and I went out to see,” Anthony explains.
“The man was in the police van already when I stopped police to ask what he was arrested for.”
Anthony says he could not believe what happened next.
“Before I could speak to them, both constables from Athlone police jumped out and pinned me against the van. The one searched my pockets,” he says.
“Then he told me to loosen my pants, which I did. He asked me to pull my pants down and I did.
“The most humiliating part was when he asked me to remove my underpants and I also did that.
“The cop then told me to remove my shoes and it was at this point that someone said they cannot do this to me.
“I stood there naked and lots of people came out to look, men and women, but mostly women.
“I asked the cops their names as I would be pressing charges and they told me, ‘ja, you can ma’ go lay a charge’.”
“I stood there shaking, humiliated and embarrassed.
“Those cops had a stink attitude. An ‘ons skrik vir niks, ons is die baas hier’ attitude.
“I want further steps to be taken against them. I’m a human being, not a dog. My poor wife was even too embarrassed to leave the house, as this is all people seem to talk about in the area.”
Police spokesperson, Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana confirmed a charge has been laid.
“A case of crimen injuria has been opened for investigation,” Rwexana said.