The spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) in the Free State, Lizzy Shuping, confirmed a case was registered in Petrusburg on Wednesday, 22 March 2023.

On Monday, 20 March 2023, the 17-year-old boy told OFM News that he was assaulted and forced to clean police cells at the Petrusburg Police Station.

The teenager said a police van stopped next to him while he was on his way home from the store. He alleged that a police officer got out of the vehicle and slapped and choked him, then put him in the back of the vehicle before driving off to the offices of the library, where he was taken out of the vehicle and allegedly kicked by a group of police officers.

The boy further alleged that while he was pleading with police officers and asking them what he had done, he was told to spill the names of people involved in the national shutdown protests in Petrusburg.

He told them he didn't know anything because he wasn't a part of the protest, and that's when one of the cops allegedly hit him with a brick on his head and back. He claims to have been taken to the police station and forced to clean the cells while the police sprayed sanitiser on his injured back. He was released after being forced to mop the cells. 

ALSO READ: Petrusburg police accused of assaulting teenager during shutdown

He went to the clinic for medical attention and went back to the station, this time with his sister, in an attempt to open a case. However, the police refused to assist and told them to bring along their parents. Later that evening one of his parents informed OFM News that the police "were arrogant and did not want to open a case".

Ipid was contacted and a case was opened on Wednesday 22 March 2023. Shuping says Ipid is conducting preliminary investigations and will announce the outcome once investigations have been completed. 

OFM News