Father Throws Infant Daughter Off Roof During Stand-Off With Police

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During a stand-off with police in Kwadwesi, South Africa, a father threw his daughter off of a roof.

The 38-year-old unidentified man was protesting the demolition of his illegal shack, in an apparent township dispute with police.

For some reason, the man took his 1-year-old daughter onto the roof of his home, as protesters and police surrounding the dwelling.

A policeman climbed up onto the roof to try to talk to him, and that’s when things went horribly wrong.

The man was dangling his daughter over the edge of the roof by the ankle. Before anyone could react, the father threw his baby over the edge of the roof.

The terrifying ordeal was captured in photographs. Images show the policeman rushing toward the man, but he was too late to stop him from throwing his daughter into the crowd below.

Amazingly, the child was caught by another policeman positioned on the ground, and suffered no physical injuries.

The man was arrested, and has been charged with attempted murder. I can’t imagine what would push a father to this point, but thank goodness there was someone there to catch her!

About 90 illegal dwellings in the Joe Slovo township in Kwandesi were ordered to be demolished.

The man lived in one of the illegal shacks.

The South African Police Service was there to ensure the safety of the demolition teams.

Leading up to the demolition, protesters had begun throwing rocks and and bricks and closing off roads with burning tires. As police were calming the fracas, the man climbed onto the roof of his shack with his infant daughter.

The man threatened to throw his daughter off the roof, unless demolishers backed off and left his home alone. Negotiators on the scene tried to talk the man down, but were unsuccessful. That’s when another policeman went onto the roof. The rescue plan took a very sudden turn for the worse.

As police were closing in, the father threw his daughter off the roof.

The desperate man, seeing police close in, dangled his daughter over the roof by the ankle.

The baby fell to the crowd below, where a policeman was able to catch her.

The man was taken into custody.

In a statement to local media, police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said, “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 man was arrested, and charged with the attempted murder of his infant daughter.

The case is being handled by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit. The girl was returned to her mother, and is being looked after by local social services.

Motherwell Cluster Commander Major General Dawie Rabie said, “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.”

After the girl was rescued and the man arrested, the 90 illegal structures slated for demolition were torn down.

Images: Twitter/!MichaelSun168