A charge of assault has been opened against Sunnyside police for brutally assaulting a prostitute in Pretoria, police confirmed on Monday.
”We have obtained a statement and we are busy with the investigations,” said Gauteng police spokesperson Govindsamy Mariemuthoo.
The statement by Patricia Male was made on Sunday to provincial organised-crime unit commander Director Simon Mapyane, who is heading the investigation into the attack, which reportedly left Male comatose.
The Sowetan reported that the assault on Male was the second in three days.
She was allegedly sprayed in the face with pepper spray in the first attack, said to involve the same police officials.
It was based on this attack that police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi last week dismissed the assault claims as an ”absolute thumb-suck” and said she had been admitted to hospital for irritation of the eyes.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has said Selebi ”made a fool of himself” in making the statement before the inquiry he appointed into the matter had made a finding.
The incident illustrated that, in an environment where information about crime, police and policing was tightly-controlled, those in control could and were likely to try and pull the wool over the eyes of the general public, said DA safety and security spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard. — Sapa