Screaming woman dragged from car in chilling CCTV footage. Video / Intelligence Bureau SA
Chilling CCTV footage has captured the moment a young woman was dragged screaming from her car and assaulted by South African police.
The video, which has sparked outrage after going viral online, shows visibly terrified Kymie du Toit crying out for help as she's manhandled by a group of officers.
The 28-year-old was on her way home from a babysitting job in Pretoria just before midnight last Tuesday when she was approached by a police vehicle flashing blue lights, reports News.com.au.
"I was beaten, kicked and my face smashed against the cement floor," she said in an interview with the Rapport newspaper. "My knee hurts and my arms are full of blue spots."
According to News24, the nursery school teacher had been sexually harassed in February after being duped into stopping at a fake roadblock.
After that incident, police advised her that in future she should drive to a safe place before stopping — the same advice has been given by women's safety groups in South Africa, where criminals often impersonate police.
Ms du Toit had turned on her hazard lights and driven to the nearest petrol station. In the video, she opens her door as the officers, two men and two women, rush towards her car.
As she steps out of the white VW Polo, they grab her by the arm and begin forcefully dragging her away. Ms du Toit appears to panic, struggling and calling out for help as she's dragged towards the police van.
A male bystander in a yellow shirt and baseball cap approaches but is held away by one of the officers. Ms du Toit is then thrown to the ground and handcuffed before being taken away.
"They pulled me out of the car. Two men and two women. The one woman banged my head, left cheek first, several times on the ground as they handcuffed me," she told Rapport.
Ms du Toit says she was 'beaten, kicked and my face smashed' on the cement. Photo / Facebook
She was arrested and charged with reckless and negligent driving — but she claims her speedo never showed her going faster than 53km/h.
Speaking to News24, Ms du Toit's mother Naomie said her daughter was still traumatised by a separate incident earlier this year when she was stopped by four men on her way back from the airport.
"On the way back, she went through a legitimate roadblock, and some distance further there was what appeared to be a second roadblock," she said.
"Four men posing as police officers then sexually harassed her, touched her, played with her hair. Eventually they let her go … She was given counselling but nothing came of the case."
In last week's incident, the police vehicle allegedly tried to block her car and push it off the road in an area that wasn't well lit. Ms du Toit panicked and drove to the petrol station in Elardus Park, near where she lives with her mother.
Naomie said that night, police brought Ms du Toit's car home and informed her she had been arrested. She paid the 1000 rand ($100) bail to have her daughter released, then took her to hospital.
"She got hurt pretty badly," her mother said. "Some of the bruising has only started to show recently. We don't know what steps we're going to take next. At this point, I just want to ensure my child is healthy."
On Thursday, she appeared in court, "where the case was struck from the roll", Naomie said. She said her daughter was receiving trauma counselling and that the family had opened an assault case against the officers.
"We as the department are aware of the video and the incident that took place on the mentioned date and times and we can confirm that those members seen in the video are TMPD members," a spokesman for the Tshwane Metro Police Department told News24.
"At this stage, (an) internal investigation is continuing and we have since obtained statements from the affected members. We can also state that the case is at an advanced stage and we will be able to comment further after the chief of police has studied the docket opened and pronounced on the next step afterwards."
