POLICE OFFICER DID THIS TO HER - RELATIVE

MBABANE – The pictures you see tell the story.

“No matter the crime, she did not deserve to be beaten like this,” these were the words of a relative to Zinhle Precious Shongwe (36), a woman who was sentenced to five years imprisonment without an option of a fine.
She was convicted of stealing E46 815 worth of stock from her employer. Shongwe’s family has claimed, that she was brutally assaulted allegedly by a member of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) at the Manzini Police Station. The name of the officer accused of assaulting Shongwe is known to this publication but cannot be revealed as he has not been given an opportunity to state his side of the story.

The relative shared pictures showing what she claimed were bruises sustained by Shongwe during the interrogation.
She mentioned that while they did not condone theft and crime in general, they believed that their relative did not deserve to be assaulted in such a brutal manner. Giving a background of the issue, she narrated that Shongwe was arrested by the police last week and later released and informed that she would be contacted again.

“Indeed, she was contacted again and taken to the police station, where we are told she was seriously interrogated. What she informed us is that she admitted that she had stolen the money on different days. Our gripe is that the police officer assaulted her like this despite that she had admitted to having committed the crime,” the relative said.

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She alleged that the police compiled a report for Shongwe and advised that she should seek medical attention. “Again, we do not understand why the police did not take her to hospital because they are ones who assaulted her in the first place. Honestly we are disappointed with how the matter has been handled. Another gripe we have is that during the sentencing, we were not allowed inside the court, yet we had come to give moral support to our relative,” she alleged.

Furthermore, the relative alleged that Shongwe was to be taken to prison yesterday which raised fears that the injuries could cause problems for her. “She has been urinating blood ever since she was assaulted and we do not know what will happen to her in prison,” she said.

When called for comment on the issue, Chief Police Information Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati advised that the family should report the case of assault so that it could be investigated. “If she is being taken to Mawelawela Prison, the family can report there that she was assaulted. As the police, we will investigate once this has been reported,” she said.

Asked if it was lawful for officers to assault suspects when interrogation them Vilakati said for now she could not dwell much until there are results which prove that there was truth in the allegations. “It is the results that will give us a way forward to ascertain if the there was any wrongdoing during the interrogation,” Vilakati said. Yesterday, our sister publication the Times of Eswatini reported that  Shongwe had been found guilty of stealing the stock from boxes, and then filled stones inside the boxes, which would then be delivered to clients who came to stock.

She was sentenced to five years imprisonment without the option of a fine. Shongwe of Fairview appeared before Acting Principal Magistrate Sindisiwe Zwane on the charge of theft. According to the charge sheet, she unlawfully stole from her employer, Zinhle Gabisile Masina 237 of 50ml of Villa perfumes worth E46 215, and 12 of 20ml Villa perfumes valued at E600. The items were stolen on October 28. The employer would have generated a profit of E195 100 from the 50ml bottles. She pleaded guilty to the charge.

According to Masina, who is Shongwe’s employer, she had been employed for two years at the shop as a sales assistant. The employer revealed that her employee was paid a salary of E1 800. She detailed that on the day in question; she has called a stock controller to her shop at OK Foods Building situated in Ngwane Park. The employer mentioned that as the stock controller went about doing her duties, she discovered that one of the perfume bottles was filled with white pebbles.

Suddenly, it was discovered that all the perfume bottles were filled with stones.  “She found the stones and informed me about them, and I quickly called my assistant to enquire about them. However, she claimed that she had a stomach ache and rushed to the toilet, only to not return,” Masina narrated. She further mentioned that after a while, they realised that her employee had escaped and that was when the police officers were called and informed.  In mitigation, the accused asked the court to pass a lenient sentence as she suffered from a cardiovascular ailment. She said she was remorseful of her action and would not repeat it.
 

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