The woman claimed her infant was snatched from her by three men in KZN.
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police have warned the public to refrain from opening false cases, especially those related to violence perpetrated against women and children.
The plea comes after a 26-year-old woman was charged with perjury when she lied to the police about the kidnapping of her imaginary three-month-old baby.
Fake kidnapping
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the woman claimed her “baby” was snatched from her by three men at the KwaMagwaza area in Melmoth at the weekend.
“Police unleashed a search team comprising different role players to search for the child. After several hours of extensive search, it came to light that the woman had lied about the kidnapping and that she never gave birth to a baby.
“Police found that the woman had lied to her boyfriend and his family that she was pregnant and had given birth. The same woman had told her own family that she had a miscarriage. She was then arrested and duly charged with perjury and will appear in the Melmoth Magistrate’s Court today, Tuesday, 16 September 2025,” Netshiunda said.
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Second incident
This is the second woman to be charged with perjury this month. A 21-year-old woman will appear in the Madadeni Magistrate’s Court today after she said under oath that she was raped by her uncle but it was later found that she was lying.
“The uncle in question is already in custody after he was arrested for raping his 15-year-old niece at Blaaubosch in Madadeni,” Netshiunda said.
Warning
Netshiunda added that reporting a false case is a criminal offence.
“Police will ensure that those who waste the police’s limited resources by opening false cases are met with the wrath of the law.
“The time that police spend opening imaginary cases and investigating non-existent criminal cases could be spent preventing, combating and investigating genuine cases opened by real victims of crime,” Netshiunda said.
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