MBOMBELA – Local estate agents have confirmed to Lowvelder that sales and rentals to Mozambican citizens have increased since the beginning of this year, due to them fearing for the safety of their families. One who didn’t want to be identified, said she had recently sold houses to two families from the neighbouring country who had left due to the spate of kidnappings. Another estate agent said his rentals to Mozambicans had also increased since January.
The latest kidnapping was that of a learner at the American International School of Maputo, who was taken while walking to school last month.
The learner was identified as not being tied to the diplomatic community, but the embassy nonetheless assisted the parents in the recovery. The police have so far not released any official statement on the matter.
The Bill to combat abductions had been passed and drafted by the parliamentary group of the ruling Frelimo Party last year. It read, “Anyone who by means of violence, threats, or any fraud, kidnaps another person, for the purpose of extortion, rape, ransom or reward will be punished by a jail term from 12 to 16 years”.
The penalty would rise from 16 to
20 years if serious harm was done to the victim, or if the abduction was accompanied “by torture or other cruel, degrading or inhumane treatment”. This also applied in cases where the victim was a child, a pregnant woman, disabled or seriously ill, and where the abductors were public servants or pretending to be agents of authority. This would apply to policemen involved in kidnapping gangs.
If it resulted in the death of the victim, the prison term would increase from 20 to 24 years. For heinous crime cases the penalty would
be 40 years’ imprisonment.
This Bill had been rushed through due to the spate of kidnappings that had been occurring in Mozambican cities since 2011.
The latest report released in May 15 from the Overseas Advisory Council by the US Bureau of Diplomatic Security on the kidnappings, stated that the problem had mostly targeted affluent South Asian-descent persons.
The report stated that in 2013, the abduction cases targeted broader groups, including prominent Mozambicans and foreigners.
The goal of the kidnappers was the receipt of a ransom for the release of the victim, but one incident ended in the death of a child. Many wealthy families took their children out of school and left the country out of fear of falling victim to this crime.
