Witness the heartstopping moment a father threatens to throw a baby off of a roof. Source - HeraldLIVE
A South African man has been charged with attempted murder after throwing his six-month-old daughter off the top of a shack in an illegal township to stop it being demolished.
The 38-year-old had taken the baby and climbed on top of their home in protest against dozens of shacks at a township in Kwadwesi, near Port Elizabeth on South Africa's eastern cape coast being lined up for destruction, the Daily Mail reported.
As half-a-dozen policemen lined up on the ground below him and one climbed up to try to talk him down, the man dangled the baby over the edge by her ankle, before swinging her over the edge.
The man gestures to a police officer to stand back. Photo / via Facebook
Township protesters could be heard egging the agitated dad on with chants of: "Throw, throw, throw".
The South African Police Service had been sent in to ensure the safety of the demolition team as 150 protesters began serious rioting throwing bricks and closing off roads with burning tyres.
As calm was being restored this man climbed onto the roof of his shack with his child and threatened to throw her to her death if the demolishers did not back off and leave his home alone.
When negotiators failed to talk him down a rescue plan was launched by police which ended successfully with the fathers' arrest and the safe recovery of the toddler who was thrown off the shack.
The man had climbed onto the roof with the baby girl in a desperate attempt to stop the demolition of the corrugated iron shack. Photo / via Facebook
Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge told local media: "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 38-year-old father has been charged with the attempted murder of his daughter and the case is being handled by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit."
Captain Beetge said the baby has been handed back to the 35-year-old mother and their case is being overseen by local social services to ensure the child is in a place of safety.
The Motherwell Cluster Commander Major General Dawie Rabie praised the police actions.
The man dangled the baby over the edge by her ankle, before swinging her over the edge. Photo / via Facebook
He 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.
