Three men have been charged after a nine-year-old boy was tortured, electrocuted and nearly drowned in a wheelie bin after he was accused of stealing money.
The shocking incident happened in Klapmuts on January 27, after he was accused of stealing R600.
Out of more than five people who were present during the incident, which was filmed, cops arrested and charged three men – Justin Limco, 21, Nathan Niewenhuis, 24, and Zane Marthinus, 34.
The six-minute long video, which has since gone viral, starts with the boy being pinned against a white VW Golf, while a man dressed in dark pants and a white vest is tying the young victim’s hands with cable ties to a metal saw as he wails.
People in the yard can be heard laughing and making comments like: “Tie him up, make it tight.”
The boy screams in Afrikaans: “Eina, my hand!”
The man in the vest holds jumper cables, connected to the car battery, and places it on the child’s hands, shocking him several times.
At the same time, another person uses a hosepipe and douses the boy with water, apparently to intensify the electrocution.
The terrified nine-year-old is heard screaming for his mammie, while the man mercilessly asks: “Gaan jy nou praat? Are you going to steal again? Are you still not not going to talk?”
The man then says the car battery is flat and tells the boy to hold on as he walks out of frame while another one starts hitting him with a belt.
A woman can be heard telling the men to leave the child, it’s enough, but they ignore her.
The helpless child is then lifted up and placed head down into a wheelie bin. His harrowing screams can be heard as the man in the vest asks someone to bring water.
A woman says: “Do you see what happens to people who steal money? Do you see? You did this to yourself.”
After the cable ties are removed, the boy is pushed back into the bin and they place large rocks on the lid and a man repeatedly hits the bin to terrify the child further.
They then put the hosepipe in the bin and water is poured into it.
The woman holding the camera keeps laughing and saying: “Lekker, he swims in the dam so he can hold his head under the water.”
On Wednesday, the boy’s neighbour told the Daily Voice after the ordeal that he was removed from the area, explaining: “He’s with his mother, he was living with his grandmother, but after this he was taken away.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut confirms that three suspects were arrested on a charge of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He says: “Their last court appearance was on Monday in the Paarl Magistrate’s Court and the case has been postponed for a bail application.”