Woman refuses to pay bribe, gets cash

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Published Feb 11, 2016

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Durban - A Phoenix woman who was arrested for talking on her cellphone and then locked in a cell for six hours with several men because she refused to pay a bribe has been paid out R120 000, plus legal costs, by the minister of safety and security.

The order was taken by consent before Judge Piet Koen in the Pietermaritzburg High court on Wednesday after the minister conceded liability two years ago.

Monica Naidu, who was represented by advocate Ryan Naidu, sued after the incident in Verulam in May 2010.

According to documents before the court, Naidu, a teacher, had stopped in a parking area off the road and was talking on her cellphone when she was approached by two police officers, one in uniform and the other in plain clothes.

They demanded R5 000 from her, saying it was a fine for talking while driving.

When she resisted, the plain-clothed policeman told her “you are arrested” and told her to follow him back to the police station, which she did.

There, they instructed her to go to the back of the station, but she was afraid, and refused.

“She felt extremely traumatised, she was crying and tried to get the attention of numerous other police officers present.

“She said she had to leave to fetch her children, to which the uniformed officer shouted aggressively: ‘You are defying a police officer in the presence of all policemen.

“He then told those present that she had threatened to report him to the superintendent, causing them to laugh at her and ridicule her,” the pleadings state.

Naidu said she asked that a female officer be called, but that was refused.

Traumatised, she said she was feeling weak and asked for medical attention, but that was ignored.

She was then locked in a cell with men, one of whom had been arrested for attempted murder.

When she asked about bail, the plain-clothed policeman told her, “R5 000 would sort it out,” which, she alleged, was an attempt to extort a bribe from her.

He also told her, “I will punish you and lock you up.”

She was eventually released later that night.

Naidu said apart from suffering extreme trauma, her arrest was unlawful in the first place because she was not doing anything wrong.

The Mercury

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