Lavern De Vries
18 November 2008
Atlantis police are investigating charges of assault after officers of the Area Crime Combating Unit there allegedly beat up nine schoolchildren, apparently with batons, during a raid on a house believed to be a drug den.
At least two of the children were admitted to hospital after the incident. One may have suffered permanent kidney damage, according to his mother, who cannot be named to protect her son's identity.
The Atlantis mother said her son's annual sports day was on November 7. Afterwards the 13-year-old boy had asked his mother whether he could join a few friends for lunch at a friend's house.
While they were there, police raided the house and allegedly assaulted the children present.
The mother said her traumatised son had told her the police had burst into the room in which the children were sitting and asked them whether they smoked tik.
"My son said they then grabbed the children and bent them over until their heads were between their legs.
He said they tied the children's hands behind their backs and started beating them with something they don't know what it was because they were told not to look up."
The group, which included boys and girls, was apparently split up and the girls were taken to another room where they were also allegedly beaten.
"My son said the police were not only violent but accused them of sleeping with the girls," the mother said.
After reporting the incident to the Atlantis police station, she took her son to Wesfleur Hospital. She was told he had blood in his urine, apparently as a result of the beating.
After her son was discharged on Saturday, she returned to the police station and discovered that there was no docket.
Atlantis police have confirmed that three raids were conducted by the Area Crime Combating Unit (separate from the local station) with one raid yielding tik with a street value of R40 000 and a firearm.
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