Durban - Almost a decade after he was “wrongfully and maliciously” arrested, an Amanzimtoti man has seen justice served.
According to court papers, in February 2004, 49-year-old Mohan Gopaul was arrested for “theft by false pretences” after a business deal with a policeman went sour.
He claims he was assaulted and his wife was threatened with rape, and that he spent the night at the Verulam police station in “deplorable and unhygienic” conditions.
After the charges were dropped, Gopaul took civil action against the police.
On Friday, the Durban High Court found he had been wrongfully arrested and ruled the minister of police and Warrant Officer Leslie Govender, now stationed at Phoenix, were liable for the damages Gopaul had suffered.
“The evidence adduced on behalf of the defendants mostly consisted of blatant lies,” Judge King Ndlovu said, in handing down judgment.
He said the motive of the police had been to humiliate and degrade Gopaul in front of his family and neighbours, and that they had “achieved their objective”.
Gopaul testified that, in September 2003, Govender enlisted the services of Ace Driveways, a tarmac driveway construction company that Gopaul and his wife, Radhika, ran.
Ace Driveways started, but did not complete the work, and was only paid in part, because Govender and Gopaul had a fallout.
Then, in February 2004, Govender and a group of his colleagues pulled Gopaul over on the N2. He was told he had stolen money from Govender and that a warrant for his arrest had been issued.
The next day, police stormed his home, struck him on the back and the head and threw him into a police van, he said.
He claimed they phoned Radhika and threatened her with rape, while they drove him to the Verulam police station.
He spent the night in a cell with two other men.
“He had to watch naked inmates showering near his cell… He did not shower that night. He had no pillow. There were no blankets or mattresses.”
He was released the next day and, a while later, contacted by police and told the charges against him had been dropped.
Gopaul said he had opened a case of assault but later withdrew the charges because he was told collecting evidence would be “a problem”.
Judge Ndlovu said Gopaul and his wife had impressed him. They were “honest and truthful” witnesses.
Govender “was a poor, untruthful and unreliable witness”, he said.
The value of Gopaul’s damages, for which Govender and the minister are liable, still has to be determined.
The Mercury