Father in court for throwing daughter off roof
A South African man has been charged in court with child abuse after throwing his one-year-old daughter from the roof of a shack last week.
Police say the charges against the 38 year old father have been changed from attempted murder to child abuse pending further evidence and investigation.
The man was filmed throwing the infant from a rooftop during a protest against the demolition of informal settlements in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.
Police had been demolishing about 150 shacks in the Joe Slovo settlement, which they said had been built on illegally occupied land.
The man, whose house was the last one standing, had been helped to climb the roof by a woman reported to be the girl’s mother.
He was on the roof for about five minutes before he threw her as other residents shouted “throw, throw, throw”, Herald Live reported.
The little girl was unharmed and she is now with her mother.
The court case has been remanded to 23 April.
The man, who has not yet been asked to plead, has been remanded in custody until then.
Democratic Allaince (DA) councillor Nqaba Bhanga welcomed the fact that the accused had been denied bail.
“We have a situation in South Africa where our children’s rights are undermined and I think this community and that father should learn that the lives of our children are very important,” he was quoted by Herald Live as saying. BBC News
