In what can be described as a horrific scene, a South African father threw his one-year-old daughter from the roof of a shack in Joe Slovo township in Kwadesi Port Elizabeth.
The incident occurred during a demolition process conducted by the Nelson Mandela Municipality on Thursday, Police spokesperson, Captain Andre Beetge, revealed.
Beetage said that the 38-year-old callous father climbed onto the roof of one of the structures and held his one-year-old girl in his hands. This he did to force the team not to demolish the structure.
Thankfully, South African Police officers who were present to ensure the safety of the team doing the demolition set out a plan to rescue the girl and arrest the man.
The spokesman said just before midday police surrounded the shack and attempted to persuade the father to come down from the roof because of the safety of the child.
Beetge said within a few minutes a rescue attempt ensued and police grabbed the father while he simultaneously flung his daughter off the roof.
A metro police member managed to catch the little girl as she was being flung.
The 38-year-old father will be charged with attempted murder of his daughter and will be investigated by the Motherwell Cluster Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit.
IOL reports that the little girl would be handed back to her mother while social services will provide oversight.
The operation was finalised after a total of about 90 structures were demolished.
“It is shocking that a father would attempt to sacrifice his own child for the sake of delaying the demolishing of an illegal shack structure. He will be facing the full result of the Law against his actions,” Beetge said.
See photos:
