WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A 26-year-old father of two has been arrested on a charge of assault with the intent to commit grievous bodily harm and child abuse of his one-year-old son.
This comes after a video of him aggressively swinging, grabbing and flinging his terrified infant halfway to the ground went viral on social media.
The father, whose name is known to the Daily Voice, was recorded on Christmas Eve by the baby’s mother after he had allegedly harassed her at her parents’ home in Heideblom Lane, Bridgeton, Oudtshoorn.
Speaking on the basis of anonymity to protect the whereabouts of the mother and her children, a family member told the Daily Voice that the family had for years suffered abuse at the man’s hands until the mother decided to leave him this week.
“I am not going to lie and say that this was the first time, the reason she moved back to her parents was because he used to constantly hit her in front of their children.
“When the children cried, he would turn around and hit them in their faces as well,” the relative says.
“We all warned her, but she kept dropping the cases against him, until now.
“I just think this time was the breaking point for her, that’s why she made the video to have hardcore evidence against him and to once and for all be reminded of the things he is capable of.”
In the 39-second clip the father can be heard threatening that he will throw the screaming tot against a metal gate, over a spiked metal fence, and even to the ground.
A neighbour runs towards him to try and grab the child, who is in an upside down position, but the father violently grabs him back and swings him by the arm before threatening to throw the toddler to the ground.
All the while the panicking mother is screaming at him to “maak klaar”.
A shocked Emile Cupido, from the Forum for Anti-corruption and Service Delivery in Oudtshoorn (Faso), describes the incident as “inhuman”.
“Faso condemns this abuse very seriously because no child deserves to be dragged into parents’ quarrels.”
Police spokesperson Christopher Spies urged the public to refrain from circulating the video in the interest of protecting the identity of the child.
Spies confirms that the father has been arrested and that he appeared in court on Tuesday.
He was remanded pending a bail application and further investigation.
* This story was originally published by the Daily Voice.