Woman arrested for kidnapping KZN girl

In March, a father from KwaDabeka returned home from work, and found that his eight-year-old daughter, together with her stepmother, were missing, Highway Mail reported.

Police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane said the father became worried when they did not show up as hours went by.

“He called his girlfriend several times but his attempts were futile as she had allegedly switched off her cellphone. The concerned father reported the matter to the Pinetown Police Station, where a kidnapping case was opened and handed over to the Pinetown Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offenses Unit for investigation,” said Zwane.

The matter was investigated, and police received information that the girlfriend had left Durban. Indications were that she was in the Zululand area.

Zwane said police traced the woman to Pongolo after intensified investigations.

“The girlfriend learnt that the police were hot on her trail. She went to a hiking spot in Pongolo with the child and asked an unknown man to take the child to Nseleni where he would supposedly meet up with the suspect’s sister, who was to collect the child from him.

“The stranger agreed and they exchanged numbers and parted ways. When the man with the child approached Nseleni, he called the suspect numerous times but her phone was off. The man decided to leave the child at the Richards bay police station,” said Zwane.

The father and his daughter were reunited on Wednesday, 22 April.

Police received information about the whereabouts of the woman and she was arrested on Friday, 24 April.

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni said: “This will send a strong message to other kidnappers that no one is above the law. Wherever they are, we will trace and arrest them”.

This after a man was being sought by police in Hercules, in the west of Pretoria after he allegedly abducted his friend’s four-year-old son for 10 days before returning him to his home in March.

“Katlego Mnisi was apparently last seen with the suspect at Shoprite in the Bougainville Centre. He left with this man to go to Belle Ombre train station,” Hercules police Captain Bonginkosi Msimango said, adding it was still unclear what the man and the boy were going to do at the train.

Mnisi’s stepfather later went to the police to report the boy missing.

According to police spokesperson, Sergeant Christo von Mollendorf, the suspect, believed to be a vagrant, fled after dropping off the boy at his home.

“The little boy was taken for a checkup and is now at home. We are still looking for the man who he was last seen with and believed to have dropped him off at home on Sunday afternoon,” Von Mollendorf said.

– Caxton News Service