A FRANTIC mother can now rest peacefully knowing that her two-month-old baby daughter has been returned to her safely after the little girl had been kidnapped on August 28.
Prior to the kidnapping, the mother, carrying her baby, had been in the company of two friends at the Umzinto Taxi Rank when, at around 2.30pm, she was approached by a woman dressed in a pink nightgown who had called her aside and explained that she was the victim of abuse and that she was destitute.
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The mother decided to help the woman and took her to her home in the NPA Informal Settlement of Umzinto.
At around 8pm that evening, the woman complained of a headache and asked her host to get some painkillers from her neighbours.
“Leaving her baby behind, the mother went to get the painkillers and returned a short while later to find that the woman she took pity on and her baby had disappeared,” said Captain Pandarum.
A clinic card belonging to the baby as well as her milk formula and feeding bottle had also been taken – a search for the missing woman and baby proved fruitless and the matter was reported to the police.
Working tirelessly, investigating officer, Detective Warrant Officer Rajesh Maharaj of the Umzinto Saps Detective Service aided by the his fellow investigative team, successfully apprehended a 21-year-old learner on Monday morning this week at a school in Qwabe Ward at Msinsini.
“The suspect led them to a house in Turton where the baby, Sbahle Vapi, was found. The baby appeared to be in good health and was being bottle-fed by the suspect,” said Provincial Saps spokesperson, Colonel Thembeka Mbele.
The baby has since been taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical assessment. The 21-year-old learner has been taken into police custody and will appear in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court facing a charge of kidnapping.
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