Geetha Singh handcuffed and transported to the police station in the back of a marked SAPS van.
THERE is something deeply unsettling about watching an elderly woman struggle to climb into the back of a police van while members of her own community film, cheer and prepare the footage for public consumption.
The video of 70-year-old Geetha Singh being handcuffed and arrested during an anti-illegal immigration operation in Pietermaritzburg went viral. She had reportedly been accused of accommodating undocumented foreign nationals. Yet, after being taken to the police station, she was released without being charged.
According to reports, she was left traumatised and humiliated and subsequently left her home because her face had been circulated so widely on social media. It was also reported that Singh was released without charge after the arrest.
The law may have released her, but social media had already convicted her.
