Man claims police brutality at Rundu

A Kavango East man is accusing the police at Rundu of police brutality.

The Sauyemwa resident, Petrus Sikodi (19), alleges the police brutalised him for stealing a phone on 10 August.

It is alleged that the phone was stolen at the Tutungeni location at a police officer’s house while they were asleep.

Sikodi claims he was approached by four men at a Sauyemwa bar at around 19h00, and was then thrown in the back of a bakkie and taken to the river.

“I was handcuffed with police handcuffs and beaten up by a group of men who identified themselves as police armed with a pistol behind Efundula at Sauyemwa. I was prevented from informing my parents,” he says.

He alleges he was suffocated with a plastic bag filled with water.

Sikodi maintains he did not steal the phone but had to devise a plan to make it seem like he knew where the phone was.

“I decided to come up with a plan to say I knew where the phone was because I could not stand the pain while I did not know anything about the phone that was stolen. I escaped at a house I directed them to while handcuffed, and the man who was chasing me pulled fire on me as I was running for my life,” he says.

He says he then arrived at his aunt’s house, but upon arrival at her house, the aunt called the police.

Sikodi was then arrested, taken to the police station, and informed that a case of theft was opened against him.

Meanwhile, he has since opened a case of assault.

Kavango East deputy commissioner Eino Nambahu confirmed a case of a stolen cell phone was reported and opened at the police station.

“However, the police brutality was not reported, and we are not aware of the brutality at our office,” says Nambahu.

He says it was security intelligence from Rundu that was involved in the incident, not the police.

Nambahu says the organisation doesn’t motivate the police to beat people.

Police investigations continue.