Cop filmed beating suspect dismissed

Pretoria - A Pretoria police constable has been dismissed from the SA Police Service for assaulting a man and swearing at him during questioning, Gauteng police said on Wednesday.

Constable Marie Els, stationed at the Hercules police station, was dismissed from the police on Monday after she was found guilty in an internal disciplinary hearing of two charges of assault and a charge of profanity, Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said.

Beeld newspaper reported on Wednesday that Els was questioning a man arrested for an alleged armed robbery.

Another man, who was also arrested for the alleged robbery, recorded her kicking the man in a police cell and assaulting him with an iron bar.

The video also showed her swearing while questioning the man about a firearm allegedly used in the robbery.

"And you, were you there? You steal together, you were together. Where is the fucking gun," Beeld quoted the constable as saying in the video.

The video, which was posted on YouTube seven months ago and was also distributed through e-mail, has been removed.

Els had seven days to appeal.