It was them, who beat me.
Many years ago Chief of Police VerMaak called me at the Umlaas Road Store and asked me to be at the Camperdown police station at lunch time.
He didn't go into the "why" and I must admit I was worried.
I hadn't done anything illegal (that I knew about) but back then when the cops call your stomach did a flip.
He didn't go into the "why" and I must admit I was worried.
I hadn't done anything illegal (that I knew about) but back then when the cops call your stomach did a flip.
I arrived at he police station at lunch only to find that I was not the only one who was called in.
My dad was there as were my uncle Hussein and the other Hussein, the one we called Sue Mall.
Soon we were all in a lineup and a prisoner was brought in. He looked banged up.
Very very banged up. Both his eyes were closed from the swelling of his badly mangled face and he went straight up to my uncle Hussein and the other Hussein and said "it was them who beat me".
He was led away and I was sent back to the shop.
The back story behind this was something I heard a while later.
It went like this.
Somebody had stolen my uncle Hussein's new delivery van.
After a few days the van was recovered and the thief apprehended and locked up in the HammersDale police staton.
The other Hussein (Sue Mall) was a police reservist who worked at the Camperdown police station after hours.
He donned his uniform and took a police van from Camperdown and went to Hammersdale police station.
There he told them he was "transporting the prisoner" and they released the prisoner into his custody.
He then brought the prisoner to my uncles wholesale where they applied some old school persuasion to the prisoner. After "panel beating" him, he was returned to the Hammersdale police station with a note on the charge sheet saying that, he had attempted to escape and that they needed to use "some force" to subdue him.
Imagine busting somebody out of jail, just to beat them and then sending them back to jail.
And getting away with it.
We clearly lived in a different world when the rules were upside down.
This sort of thing would be an outrage today, and all sorts of heads would roll, but back in the day it was just another funny story that had seemingly a happy ending in that nothing came of the prisoners attempts to lay charges of police brutality and assault against his attackers.
We were so stupid. Cos we thought that there were no consequences.
When we are older we realise there are always consequences.
M Parak.
My dad was there as were my uncle Hussein and the other Hussein, the one we called Sue Mall.
Soon we were all in a lineup and a prisoner was brought in. He looked banged up.
Very very banged up. Both his eyes were closed from the swelling of his badly mangled face and he went straight up to my uncle Hussein and the other Hussein and said "it was them who beat me".
He was led away and I was sent back to the shop.
The back story behind this was something I heard a while later.
It went like this.
Somebody had stolen my uncle Hussein's new delivery van.
After a few days the van was recovered and the thief apprehended and locked up in the HammersDale police staton.
The other Hussein (Sue Mall) was a police reservist who worked at the Camperdown police station after hours.
He donned his uniform and took a police van from Camperdown and went to Hammersdale police station.
There he told them he was "transporting the prisoner" and they released the prisoner into his custody.
He then brought the prisoner to my uncles wholesale where they applied some old school persuasion to the prisoner. After "panel beating" him, he was returned to the Hammersdale police station with a note on the charge sheet saying that, he had attempted to escape and that they needed to use "some force" to subdue him.
Imagine busting somebody out of jail, just to beat them and then sending them back to jail.
And getting away with it.
We clearly lived in a different world when the rules were upside down.
This sort of thing would be an outrage today, and all sorts of heads would roll, but back in the day it was just another funny story that had seemingly a happy ending in that nothing came of the prisoners attempts to lay charges of police brutality and assault against his attackers.
We were so stupid. Cos we thought that there were no consequences.
When we are older we realise there are always consequences.
M Parak.
Comments