STRUGGLE IN CELL FOR SURVIVAL

HUNTER ASSULTED, THREATENED WITH RAPE

A hunting expidition turned into a nightmare for an ex-policeman when he was arrested for crimen injuria and placed in a crowded cell for the weekend with people who assualted him and wanted to rape him.
Mr Sakkie van der Mescht (37) from Rustenburg, Northwest, is said to have been assualted repeatedly. He claims he was stabbed in the head with a knife and another sharp object. His cellmates also tried to rape him, but he fought with all his strength to avoid this humiliation.
A knife was held against his sexual organs, whilst his inmates threatened to cut them off. After this, he had to sit naked on the cold floor for a long time before they would return his clothes, Mr Van der Mescht said on Monday.
The father of two neither drank nor ate anything during the whole weekend. Apparently his inmates had ejaculated into the water that had been offered to him. He claims that the police only visited the cells once in the mornings and once at nights.
Since this experience, nightmares are keeping Van der Mescht awake at night. Mr Carl Arnold, his lawyer, said that they are awaiting the results of the AIDS tests and other sexually transmitted diseases because of the dirty knife that was used on him.
On 27 June, Van der Mescht formed part of a hunting expedition in the Madikwe-trust area. He was i their camp when two of his fellow hunting partners in a small truck, were stopped by the police. They could not produce the papers of one of the guns that were in their possession but which belonged to one of the other hunters in their party.
After the agreement was reached that someone would produce the licence to the police, the police left with no further actions taken.
Arnold says that Van der Mescht took the gun licence and ID book of the required hunter along with him and drove off after the police, but they ignored him repeatedly when he tried to show it to them.
Van der Mescht had been the appointed weapon inspector for the police in Rustenburg until March. He is presently employed as a security manager for a group of hotels.
At a place where the police pulled over along the road, the driver of the small truck in which Van der Mescht had been travelling, also stopped. Some of the policemen stormed over to Van der Mescht. His door was yanked open and he was grabbed by the arm. Van der Mescht said that he complained about being manhandled like this. Without further ado, he was thrown into the back of the police van. For more than an hour they drove around with him in the back of the van before he was taken to the Madike police station. "I was arrested for crimen injuria and intimidation".
On Saterday, when the wife of Van der Mescht tried to visit him, she was chased away from the police station and also threatened with being arrested.
On the 30th of June, in the magistrates court of Madikwe, Van der Mescht admitted guilt to the charge of crimen injuria after he had been threatened to be returned to the cells for a further 7 days. Arnold says that they are in the process of appealing against the court descision of guilt on this matter.
Captain Aafje Botma, police representative of the Northwest, replied that Van der mescht was said to have threatened and sworn at the police at the time that he was travelling alongside them. She also said that he had been taken to a local clinic for the treatment of his wounds.
The police deny preventing his wife from visiting him and claim that they visited his cell every hour. The question asked by the Beeld of how a sharp object got into the cell was not answered by Botma.

Inset reads:

MAN SAYS:

* He was stabbed in the head by a knife and another sharp object
* His inmates tried to rape him, but he resisted with all his strength
* He had to sit for a long time on the cold floor before his clothes were returned to him
* He claims that the police visited his cell only once every morning and once every evening