Two women and a man are behind bars after they tried to extort money from one of the women’s husbands.

A resident (34) of Carletonville sent his wife (31) to Star Hyper to do some grocery shopping for the family on October 29. The wife, who had taken their three-year-old daughter with her, phoned at 16:00, saying that she was still busy.

When she had not returned by 17:00, the husband tried to phone, but got no answer. He, however, got a call at approximately 20:00, saying that his wife and daughter had been kidnapped and that the kidnappers demanded a R5 000 ransom.

The husband immediately notified the Carletonville Police, and detectives investigated. They soon determined that the wife had pretended to be kidnapped and had two accomplices, a man from Carletonville and his girlfriend. They were allegedly in a local guesthouse when they phoned her husband for the ransom.

The detectives arrested this couple on October 31. The wife handed herself over to the police in Potchefstroom on November2. Luckily, her daughter was unharmed.

The wife and her accomplices were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and extortion.