The video, first published by South African newspaper the Daily Sun, shows 27-year-old Mozambique taxi driver Mido Macia being tied to the back of a police van by uniformed police, then being dragged behind in front of several onlookers.
At first, Macia is seen trying to keep step with the van. Police stop the car, pick up his legs and drop them to the ground as the car picks up speed. Macia was found dead in a police cell less than two and a half hours after the incident.
Amnesty International’s southern Africa director, Noel Kututwa, said the incident was “the latest in an increasingly disturbing pattern of brutal police conduct in South Africa”.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) is looking into the matter. The police in question claim that Macia assaulted an officer and took his firearm after he was asked to move his taxi because it was obstructing traffic.
The IPID said: “When backup arrived the constable was still at the scene struggling to put the suspect in the police van.
The policemen then put the resisting suspect into the back of the police van and they took him to the police station where he was detained.”
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Image via Getty
