Daily Sun (February 17 2014) - WHAT started as a simple request for a lift turned into a night of hell for Pinkie and her friend.

They ended up in police holding cells, accused of stealing a cellphone and being tortured to confess.

THE ATTACK WAS SO BRUTAL PINKIE THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO DIE.

Pinkie Kheswa (35), a police reservist from Rockville in Soweto who works from the Moroka Police Station, showed Daily Sun her scars and said she wanted justice.

"I want these cops to pay for what they've done to me. I did not deserve this," she said.

Pinkie and her friend, Zodwa Mngomezulu (32) had been visiting a friend in Chiawelo, Soweto on Tuesday night. They went to a filling station hoping to get a taxi but it was late and they approached a parked cop car with a male and a female cop in the car.

"At first they didn't want to help but when I told them I was a police reservist, they agreed to give us a lift to Moroka Police Station," said Pinkie."

Pinkie and Zodwa were given a lift to the cop shop and the two friends went to their own houses - but three hours later the cops arrived at Pinkie's house. The first two cops were accompanied by three others.

"They accused me of stealing the female cop's cellphone when they gave us a lift," said Pinkie. The cops claimed it was a Samsung S3 worth R5 000.

The cops ransacked her room, waking up her two kids. When the cops didn't find anything they forced Pinkie into the vehicle.

"I was pushed into the car like a thug," she said. They picked up Zodwa from her house and the two of them were taken to Kliptown Police Station.

Pinkie was taken to a holding cell. "They kept saying they would kill me," she said.

She said she was wrapped in a blanket and made to lie on the ground. One of the cops sat on a chair, tilted back. The other cop had a surgical glove.

"Then on the count of three the one cop would sit forward, crushing my arm with the leg while the other cop suffocated me with the glove," she said.

"I made peace with the idea that I was going to die."

Zodwa was taken to a holding cell and kicked in her stomach by the same cops, she said.

Three hours later, they were taken to Moroka cop shop where they spent the rest of the night. They were released the following morning.

When Daily Sun visited Pinkie on Saturday she still had marks on her arms.

Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela confirmed an assault GBH was opened. Pinkie also plans to lay charges with the Independent Police Investigative Inspectorate.

 See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....

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