18-year-old fakes own kidnapping
“I have your daughter and if you still need her send R5 000 by the end of the next week or we will kill her and you will never find her body.”
KwaThema- 18-year-old girl has allegedly faked her own kidnapping demanding money from her family on Friday.
The police are now investigating a case of attempted extortion instead of the initial kidnapping.
KwaThema police spokesperson, Capt Thabo Sibuyi, says the family received kidnapping threats on Friday afternoon.
The complainant (32), who was at work, received a phone call from her mother informing her of the incident. The grandmother told her daughter that the granddaughter had not returned from school.
The complainant informed her mother she would try to get a hold of her daughter but upon calling her, the phone was off.
The next day at 5.06pm the complainant received a message from the daughter’s cellphone.
The message read: “I have your daughter and if you still need her send R5 000 by the end of the next week or we will kill her and you will never find her body.”
“She tried to call the number but there was no response,” he says.
Sibuyi says she received another message from the same phone reading: “She is a fresh girl but you leave me no choice and don’t involve the police or else I will kill your beautiful daughter.”
“On Sunday, KwaThema police pursued a kidnapping case after the mother opened a case. On Monday, at about 8am, a request was made by KwaThema detectives to the provincial Joint Operational Centre for the cellphone number’s location to be tracked,” says Sibuyi.
“The number appeared to be close to Soweto. The police drove to where the signal appeared and the phone was detected to be between Freedom Park and Eldorado Park,” he says.
Capt Victor Draper Fakude says after noticing where the signal was leading too they used their detective skills to solve the matter.
Police drove with the mother and she called the child who responded. The mother then told her she would deposit R200 for her which she could collect at a money market.
“The police and the mother then went to a nearby supermarket where they suspected the young girl would go to withdraw the money. The mother phoned the daughter and gave her the number and pin to use.
“They then waited for her and after about twenty minutes the mother pointed to the police two girls approaching the supermarket.
“One was the daughter and the other was a friend and they were taken to the police vehicle,” adds Fakude.
Sibuyi says the young girl was arrested and charged with attempted extortion.
“She will be kept at the Springs police station and will appear at the Springs Magistrates Court.
“We are sending a stern warning to other young people to be aware if they do such things they will also be arrested,” he concluded.
