Nonke Mabizela/TwitterHorrifying footage has emerged of the moment a father threw his baby daughter off the roof of his home during a stand-off with police.
The father was in a dispute with police, protesting against the demolishment of his shack in an apparent ‘illegal’ township in Kwadwesi, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
As police swarmed around his home and attempted to talk him down, the man dangled his one-year-old baby from the roof of the house by her ankle.
Nonke Mabizela/TwitterShockingly, other protestors on the ground, were reportedly shouting at the father ‘throw, throw, throw’. And he did, MailOnline reports.
Fortunately the toddler was caught by a policeman on the ground and suffered no injuries however it still makes for a harrowing scene.
I knw & understand the land issue is important & deeply sensitive. But what is more important, land or ur own child's life ?
A father throws his own baby daughter frm the roof of his illegal shack in PE as he fights to keep it from been removed. pic.twitter.com/9oREMrNifb
— Michael Sun (@MichaelSun168) April 13, 2018
Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge told local media:
At about 10.40am a 38-year-old man climbed onto the roof of one of the structures and held a one-year-old girl in his hands.
This was done to force the team not to demolish the structure.
Due to the dangerous threat to the safety of the child police set out a plan to rescue the little girl and arrest the male and one of our officers successfully caught the girl as she was flung.
The 38-year-old father has been charged with the attempted murder of his daughter and the case is being handled by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit.
Immediately after throwing the child, the father was pinned to the ground, arrested, and charged with attempted murder in order to prevent the township’s demolishment.
The father throws his one year old baby girl from the roof as municipal officials were to break down his shack in Joe Slovo informal settlement in Port Elizabeth
What kind of demonic ish is this? Ngenelela Nkosi ?Guys m shook ☹️??????? pic.twitter.com/E5DvVcIgR0
— Nonke Mabizela (@nonkem) April 13, 2018
The baby has since been handed to her mother while the case is being handled by local social services to ensure the child is safe.
Nonke Mabizela/TwitterThe Motherwell Cluster Commander Major General Dawie Rabie, added:
It is shocking that a father would attempt to sacrifice his own child for the sake of delaying the demolishing of an illegal shack structure but thankfully the girl was saved.
The father will face the full force of the Law for his actions.
Following the incident, the demolition team moved in rapidly and destroyed 90 structures on the apparent illegal land.
