There's outrage in South Africa today after newspaper posted video that appeared to show a man being handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged through the streets. According to the AP, that man was later found dead in a police cell on Tuesday.
We've embedded the video below, which was originally uploaded by the Daily Sun newspaper.
PLEASE NOTE: While the video does not show any graphic violence, it may be disturbing to some readers.
The man in the video has been named as Mido Macia, a 27-year-old taxi driver from neighboring Mozambique. Incredibly, the AP says his crime was "allegedly obstructing traffic with his vehicle".
According to the Daily Sun, Macia had parked on the wrong side of the road. The police are reportedly saying that he tried to grab a police officer's gun.
In the video at least three police officers can be seen handcuffing or tying Macia to the police van. A large crowd has gathered to watch, though none appear to intervene. The AP reports that voices can be heard saying in Zulu "We are going to film this" and`'What has this guy done?"
According to the Daily Sun, inmates at the jail where Macia was found say that the guards beat him to death. A postmortem reportedly says the cause of death was "head injuries with internal bleeding". The BBC reports that South Africa's Independent Police Investigative Directorate has pledged to investigate.
The incident is controversial in a country where the police force is often seen as being as corrupt as the criminals they catch. There was outrage just last year after a video posted online appeared to show heavily armed police officers shooting dead scores of striking miners.
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