Police to probe teen’s claim of assault by officer
The Eastern Cape police have been tasked with the responsibility of investigating a Maclear police officer accused of assaulting a teenager last month.
Charnelle Kroutz, 18, claims the assault was unprovoked, and said she was afraid of being intimidated because the officer lives in her neighbourhood.
Kroutz said the assault was stopped when her friend’s mother came to her defence.
“My friend’s mother then called my mother and told her about the assault, then we went to the police station to report the case,” she said.
Kroutz claims the police officer tried to approach her mother to talk about the incident but her mother refused.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) national spokesperson Moses Dlamini confirmed a case had been opened.
“The case was reported to Ipid. We registered it as an outside mandate and referred it to the office of the provincial commissioner for investigation by the SAPS intervention unit, as the SAPS member was not executing his duties.
“The provincial head personally phoned the complainant and informed her that her complaint will be referred to the SAPS provincial office for investigation,” Dlamini said.
Provincial spokesperson Captain Khaya Tonjeni declined to comment on Sunday, saying he could not access the details of the case.
“We can only comment during the week because we cannot get the details because it is Sunday. People are at home and not at the office,” he said.