File
Police arrested a 20-year-old woman in connection with the kidnapping of a four-day-old baby in Gqeberha last November.
Police spokesperson, Captain Andre’ Beetge, said the woman was arrested on Tuesday when alert Dora Nginza hospital staff contacted the police after a woman tried to register the baby boy using fictitious paperwork.
He said members of the Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences Unit arrested the young woman on a charge of kidnapping.
“The baby was found in her care. The child is in the custody of social workers until the preliminary investigation has been finalised,” he said.
Beetge said the abduction took place on 27 November, last year, when 33-year-old, Noncedo Jali, was discharged from Dora Nginza Hospital after giving birth to her baby boy several days earlier.
“She left the hospital with her baby and a female who fraudulently posed as a friend of the family. They went to Kenako Mall to buy clothing for the newborn baby. While in the mall, the suspect disappeared with the child,” he said.
Beetge said a case of kidnapping was opened at SAPS Algoa Park and an investigation was conducted by the Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences Unit.
The woman was due to appear in the New Brighton Magistrates Court on Thursday, on a charge of kidnapping, with Beetge saying additional charges could be added as the investigation unfolds.
