MAGISTRATE PUSHES WOMAN OUT OF MOVING CAR, ASSAULTED BY GUARDS

NHLANGANO – A Nhlangano-based senior magistrate allegedly pushed a woman out of a moving vehicle and assaulted her.

The judicial officer was allegedly assaulted by security guards after reportedly pushing the woman out of the vehicle and subjecting her to assault.
The incident happened in Nhlangano, in the Shiselweni Region. It was caught on camera, when the magistrate was driving a hatchback along Benguni Street. According to sources, while the car was in motion, the passenger door was flung open and the woman was thrown out.

Running

After falling onto the tarmac, the female passenger was seen running away from the vehicle, in the opposite direction. However, when she tried to flee from the driver, she fell. While this was happening, the magistrate, according to the sources, was captured on camera stopping the vehicle and running towards the female passenger. He is said to have caught up with her about 200 metres away.  After reaching the fleeing woman, the magistrate allegedly assaulted her.

Meanwhile, as the magistrate chased the female to an area with poor lighting, security personnel manning the shops along Benguni Street were captured on camera rushing to the scene and pulling away the magistrate. The magistrate’s female companion was lying helplessly on the ground and when she was assisted by the security personnel, she was bleeding through her nostrils and was allowed to gain consciousness. The security guards allegedly assaulted the senior magistrate, who ended up begging for forgiveness.

The day, according to sources, was saved by the arrival of the police and the magistrate was able to return to his car. The judicial officer is said to have entered his car. About eight police officers arrived in two vehicles. The senior magistrate was approached by two police officers in plain clothes and another in uniform, who arrived at different intervals. The police spoke to the magistrate and ensured that his car doors were properly closed, after which, they let him drive away.

The woman was taken by the police to hospital and it was gathered that she declined to open a case against the magistrate. The magistrate was at work on Monday and the woman was said to be recovering. Swatini Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) Director Nonhlanhla Dlamini said the police have an obligation and responsibility, even though the woman did not want to open a case. Dlamini said they were concerned as an organisation that the country was failing to apply the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act 15/2018.She said the SODV Act stated that a person who did not report abuse was equally guilty and had to be arrested.  “The police are supposed to open the case even when she doesn’t want to, because this is how violence starts,” she said.

Killed

Dlamini shared that going forward, the narrative would be different when one of them (police) got killed. She stated that the police were also supposed to call the woman to testify in court and charge her if she failed to do so. She added that even if the case could be resolved, the court was supposed to caution the perpetrator not to commit a similar offence in future.

Dlamini said the woman was wrong not to open a case as the perpetrator was supposed to face the law, regardless of his status.Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that the police attended to the scene. She confirmed that the female companion did not wish to open a case, while adding that police were still investigating the case, regardless of her decision.  

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