PANDEMONIUM ensued in Bellavista when a 34-year-old man was wrongly accused of sexually molesting his four-year-old son, on Sunday, December 11.
The man’s sister said her brother was assaulted by an angry, misinformed mob which was under the impression he had raped his four-year-old son. She said her brother had in fact assaulted his son while under the influence of drugs and he was later arrested for this, but somehow a rumour surfaced that he had raped the boy, prompting the community to attack him.
The family wants the community to acknowledge fault and apologise for taking the law into their own hands, going so far as to attack the police to such an extent that the officers had to call for backup and use pepper spray to dispel the crowd.
The family says that child abuse of any sort is wrong and they will continue with the case of assault against the brother because the manner in which he tried to discipline the child was wrong and excessive.
“We called the police to lay a charge of assault because the boy was badly hurt. While we were waiting for the police someone told the people around our block of flats that my brother had molested his son.
“That’s when my brother was assaulted by the mob. He was beaten with all sorts of weapons, including a hammer, cricket bats and bottles. This shouldn’t have happened because he did not molest his son. Even inspectors and doctors from the child protection unit confirmed this after the boy was examined,” she said.
The man’s family told the COURIER that he is a drug addict, but they insist he is not a rapist.
“We are very hurt because my brother was beaten for nothing as he was cleared of the molestation. No one from the community, especially those who assaulted him, came to apologise to us,” said the sister.
Ward 55 Clr Rashieda Landis strongly condemned mob justice, especially when it is based on hearsay. “This is unacceptable. You cannot assault someone based on rumours. Mob justice is intolerable. My concern was the child and we have since discovered that there was no molestation, only assault,” she said.
Booysens Police Captain Lorraine van Emmerik confirmed that a case of assault was opened against the man at the station.
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