Alert! Kidnappers scour shopping malls
Three strangers nearly kidnap child in busy shopping mall.
JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – An attempted kidnapping of a young child at a well-known and busy shopping mall on January 19 had the Glenvista Community Policing Forum urging parents to constantly be aware of their children’s whereabouts.
“On Sunday January 19 a pram with a two-year-old child was taken by three bravo males while the parents were paying at the counter in a shop at the Eastgate Shopping Centre. The three males calmly walked off with the pram until the parents heard the little one’s cries of “No! No! No!”
When the parents heard their little boy’s cries and responded, the bravo males acted as if they were joking and walked away.
“All it takes is a few seconds and your child or children could be gone,” warned the Glenvista CPF.
Missing Person’s South Africa reported figures released by the SAPS Missing Person’s Bureau. A child goes missing every six hours in South Africa, adding up to a total of 1 460 children per year.
On the bright side, more than 87 per cent of missing children are found in the first week, leaving 13 per cent of the children still missing. A summary of cases reported to Missing Children SA for the period between December 1, 2012 and November 30, 2013 in Gauteng: 155 children were recorded as missing and only 132 were found. According to figures released by the SAPS Missing Persons Bureau, abduction by a stranger or kidnapping accounts for an alarming two to three per cent of cases.
Should a parent find themselves facing a worst case scenario, here are some tips from Missing Children’s SA:
*Create a family exclusive password and teach your children that when you send a person to pick them up, the person should know the password, otherwise your children shouldn’t go with them.
*Always keep a recent photograph of your child on you so that the photo will be readily available.
*Teach your child that they should never trust strangers: they shouldn’t accept gifts from strangers or go anywhere with them.
*Teach your child the buddy system, never go anywhere alone.
