Infant snatched from KZN shops after mother leaves her with ‘kind woman’
Newcastle detectives have launched a national appeal for information, and are currently searching for a woman in her forties.
Newcastle police are on the hunt for a woman who kidnapped a baby girl from a prayer session at a shopping complex in KwaZulu-Natal last week, Zululand Observer reports.
Detective Constable TP Mthimkhulu says members of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit were called by a frantic young mother, who had briefly left her seven-month old daughter with a ‘kind woman’ while she bought a sandwich.
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“The mother went to a shopping complex at Osizweni Township to buy groceries, with her baby,” said SAPS spokesman Colonel Thembeka Mbhele.
Little Lungelo (7 months) was taken from her mother last week in the Newcastle area. Police are desperate to reunite her with her mother
PHOTO SUPPLIED/SAPS
“She stopped at a store to listen to a preacher delivering a public sermon, and a woman approached her, offering to carry her baby while the mother bought a sandwich.
“When she came back, the woman and the baby girl, named Lungelo – had both disappeared.”
He said a case of kidnapping has been opened.
The kidnapper is described as being in her forties, with a dark complexion.
She was wearing a black leather jacket and a white skirt.
“We are asking that anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of little Lungelo contact us urgently,” said Mbhele.
Informers can contact Detective Constable TP Mthimkhulu on 082 696 7953, or use the Crime Stop number – 08600 10111.
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