Spate of baby kidnapping cases in court
In the space of a month two babies have been kidnapped by women who gained their mothers’ trust and sent them on errands while they looked after the babies.
|||Durban - In the space of a month, two women have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping newborn babies by befriending the mothers and getting them to leave their babies with them while they went to the shop or toilet.
On Wednesday Sweleni Dladla, 33, appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on a charge of kidnapping.
Prosecutor Calvin Govender told magistrate Mahomed Motala that the state was opposed to bail as Dladla had a pending case for child kidnapping.
Detailing the modus operandi, Govender told the court Dladla had allegedly befriended new mothers at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital in Phoenix.
He said she would buy them food and fruit, and target the vulnerable mothers.
“In this case, she asked the mother if she had a ride home, and had bought her lunch. She gave the mother R5 to buy airtime and offered to carry her baby while she went to the shop. When the mother returned, both her new friend and the baby were gone,” Govender said.
Police subsequently traced the woman to the Nyuswa area near Hillcrest, found the baby and arrested Dladla.
Govender said Dladla had apparently taken the baby home and told the family it was her child.
It is alleged she had the baby from July 13 until her arrest on Monday.
“The complainant (the newborn’s mother) is highly traumatised by the incident,” said Govender.
Dladla’s Legal Aid attorney, Virushka Mistry, told the court her client denied the pending case against her and said she intended pleading not guilty to this charge.
The matter was adjourned until August 24 for the state to investigate the pending case.
On July 21, 29-year-old Slindile Chili of Cato Crest in Mayville, appeared in the same courtroom on a kidnapping charge.
It is alleged she kidnapped a three-day-old baby after befriending the baby’s mother.
Govender told magistrate Motala the mother and baby were in the same minibus taxi as Chili, who befriended the woman.
“They both jumped off the taxi at the same stop and (Chili) told the woman she had a stain on her dress and said she would hold the baby while she went to the toilet. When the mother returned, both the woman and her baby were gone,” said Govender.
Police had found Chili and the baby near the Durban University of Technology’s Steve Biko campus.
The state did not oppose bail and the court heard that she was an unemployed single mother of two minor children.
The magistrate granted her R1 000 bail and adjourned the matter until August 26.
The Daily News also reported on a child kidnapping and human trafficking trial where two women, Tazley Msweli and Sibongile Ndimande, are accused of duping a 28-year-old mother, Msweli into believing Ndimande was a social worker, and that both women were taking her to get food and nappies for her children.
It is alleged that the baby was kidnapped in 2014, while the mother went to the shop to buy her two-year-old something to eat and drink.
When the mother came out five minutes later, both women and her baby were gone.
Her baby was missing for five months. During this time it is alleged he was sold to a couple, the Ramlutchmans, for R2 500 and an air conditioner.
This trial is continuing.
noelene.barbeau@inl.co.za
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Daily News