Kidnapped baby found, woman arrested in Chesterville, KZN
A two-week-old baby kidnapped in Durban has been found safe, and a 21-year-old female suspect has been arrested following a swift response by Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA).
Baby Owami Lonathando Sindane was recovered at 09h15 on Monday morning near the Westville Pavilion Shopping Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.
The child was reunited with her mother, Bongiwe Sindane, who had reported the kidnapping to RUSA at 22h00 on Sunday.
RUSA officers acted on 34 tip-offs received in just eleven hours, following leads from various parts of the country including Pietermaritzburg, Limpopo, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. The search was narrowed to Chesterville in the early hours of Monday, where officers deployed ground teams and aerial support to contain the area.
A woman acting suspiciously with a newborn was approached by officers and found to be in possession of the missing infant. She was arrested on the spot and had to be removed from the area due to community members requesting to have 5 minutes uninterrupted talk with her.
She was later detained at FCS SAPS Cato Manor and positively identified by the baby’s mother.
During questioning, the suspect admitted to kidnapping the baby after suffering a miscarriage on April 24.
She met Bongiwe Sindane at a local clinic and devised a plan to steal her baby to avoid being dumped by her boyfriend, whom she later convinced that the child was his. Shockingly, she revealed that the baby had only been fed water and had not received any formula milk.