Durban – A Phoenix family was allegedly assaulted with mop handles and broom sticks after a dispute with neighbours over a soccer ball.
Colonel Thembeka Mbele, a KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson said the complainant, a woman, alleged that she was at her place of residence at Avalen Crescent with her children on Monday at 5.30 pm when the incident happened.
“Her child was playing with a ball in the yard when a neighbour asked the boy to stop kicking the ball and threatened to kill him. The woman on hearing this, then told the neighbour not to speak to her son in that manner. The neighbours then ran into the woman’s yard carrying broomsticks and mop handles and assaulted her on the head head causing her to fall to the ground,”Mbele explained.
Phoenix Crime Watch WhatsApp groups received a call for medical and police assistance, on Monday, when a message stating that a woman and her child were beaten badly by a neighbour. The message said the woman was unconscious and that her 17-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son were beaten up.
Mbele said the neighbours then continued assaulting the woman and her children.
The woman then screamed for help and another neighbour came and assisted them.
The woman sustained bruises on her head and face and the children sustained injuries as well.
A case of assault was registered at the Phoenix Police station and is under investigation.
Tino Pillay,eThekwini ward 49 councillor,said the use of violence in any form is clearly unacceptable in our community. People should understand the consequences to their actions before engaging. The use of force or violent tendencies are not the answer to any problems, in fact it compounds the problem.
Source: Daily News
