A Massey University, Auckland student is accusing police of excessive force during her arrest after police were called to her partner's home, and has filed a complaint to the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) demanding
Female university student accuses police of using excessive force during arrest
Lincoln Tan
She said they were talking rather loudly at some point and her partner's father became worried because he thought she could be drunk.
The father called the police and two officers came and told her she had to leave the property.
"I tried to touch my partner's arm asking him not to go back into the house and come with me," she said.
"When this happened, the officers pushed me to the ground, I was handcuffed by one officer while another pressed his knee over my head."
The woman said she felt excruciating pain on her arm and head and felt blood on her knee and ankle.
"I was screaming and crying as I was dragged across the concrete driveway to the police car without my footwear," the student said.
She was then taken to the police station and later to court, where she claimed she was let off with a warning.
"The pain and bruises lasted for days, and the injuries on the ankle made it really painful to walk," she said.
The incident left her depressed and shocked, she said, and she did not have any motivation to get out of bed or attend classes for days.
The student said she was lodging the IPCA complaint against the officers so she could get "some sort of formal apology".
"The level of force that the police used to arrest me is totally unreasonable and shouldn't have happened," she said.
"It has caused me quite a bit of suffering, and all I want is for the officer concerned to say that he is sorry."