Johannesburg - A 46-year-old Greytown woman is suing the Minister of Police for R1.1 million in damages after she was unlawfully arrested and severely assaulted.
Khosi Shezi alleges in papers before the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday that she and her son, Sifiso, were abducted from their homestead on June 27, 2013, at about 2am by police.
However, the minister, denies any knowledge of the incident or that she was arrested and detained, according to court papers.
If police agents had assaulted her, they had acted outside the scope and authority of the minister’s instructions, said the response.
Shezi said she and her son were taken in a police van to a homestead and then a forest where they were severely assaulted and abandoned.
Her son died as a result of his injuries but she has not sued the police for his death.
She said police kept demanding she tell them where her son was on the day when one of the officer’s brothers was allegedly killed.
When she said she did not know, the officers hit her with their fists and threw her against the police van. She was also kicked and hit with the butt of a firearm.
Shezi said she was taken to a river in the forest and told to get into the water.
She was assaulted while in the water with steel pipes and blunt objects.
She remembered being left in the forest with her son.
She lost consciousness and woke up in Grey’s Hospital and did not know how she got there.
She added that she had opened a criminal case against the policemen. Some officers had been arrested but the cases against them were still pending before the court.
Shezi said she had been traumatised by the assault and her son’s death and had gone to consultations with a clinical psychologist. A medical report from her psychologist said she suffered from psychological distress which affected important areas of her daily functioning.
She was claiming for medical expenses, past and future pain, shock and discomfort, general damages and the loss of earning capacity.
The case was adjourned for the minister to file more papers.
The Mercury