Cop accused of dragging gets bail
21 March 2013 11:22
A
policeman accused of dragging a man next to his vehicle has been released on
bail by the Mmabatho Magistrates’ Court.
Sergeant
Mbali Phetha threw his hands in the air when magistrate Seth Mmushi granted him
R1 000 bail yesterday, Beeld reported.
He faces
a charge of attempted murder.
The
state did not oppose bail.
The
court heard that Phetha lived within walking distance of the man he is accused
of dragging, court interpreter Morgan Mohlala.
A senior
investigator at the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, Bonisile
Koliya, testified on Wednesday that Phetha and another officer were called to a
tuck shop in Setlopo village, near Mmabatho, on March 7, after a young man and
the shop’s owner had had an argument.
The man
complained to Mohlala – who was nearby – that the police had harassed him.
Mohlala
then told him to come to his house so he could explain to the youth how to
lodge a complaint against the officers.
Phetha,
sitting in the police van, overheard this and allegedly grabbed Mohlala by the
neck and dragged him about 100m while driving.
“He was
running alongside the police vehicle, but fell when Phetha accelerated. The
vehicle went over his feet,” Koliya told the court.
Phetha
is scheduled to appear in the Molopo Magistrates’ Court in Mmabatho on May 2.
He sang
and danced outside the court after his release on bail, while supporters
displayed placards proclaiming his innocence.
He has
been suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
- Sapa
