THE case of Poposi Taffa, the North West man who disappeared and was found dead after he was detained at Luhurutshe police station, raises many questions about police behaviour.

THE case of Poposi Taffa, the North West man who disappeared and was found dead after he was detained at Luhurutshe police station, raises many questions about police behaviour.

The police say Taffa was last seen handcuffed and being led away from the police station by a policeman who has since been arrested for the murder. They do not explain why Taffa was arrested and why the policeman was allowed to take him away.

This is really fishy because Taffa was, in fact, the aggrieved party. He had laid a charge after the policeman allegedly slashed the tyres of his car. This was after Taffa was caught with the policeman's live-in lover.

Yesterday Sowetan also ran the story of a man who was severely assaulted, allegedly by policemen, because he is in love with one of their colleague's former lover.

The man's genitals are so damaged that he cannot have sex anymore. The policemen involved are now allegedly threatening the victim's life for having laid a charge.

These cases raise a question whether there is an unwritten code according to which the police will deal violently with anyone who interferes with their personal lives.

The ministry of police should deal with these cases with the same kind of toughness it is currently showing against criminals.

Otherwise, the public will start believing that there is indeed such a code - and the police are living by it with impunity.