KwaZulu-Natal woman arrested for kidnapping two-week-old baby
KwaZulu-Natal woman arrested for alleged baby kidnapping.
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A woman has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a two-week-old child.
The infant, rescued by the Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) members in the area around the Pavilion Shopping Center in Westville, was found safe.
The mother, called RUSA on Sunday to report the kidnapping of her infant. In the 11 hours leading up to the arrest and retrieval, the organisation's officers distributed information about the missing child and received 34 tip-offs.
The group followed up on the tips from the public in Pietermaritzburg, KZN; Limpopo Province; Cape Town, Western Cape; and Johannesburg, Gauteng. Throughout the night, there were reports of a woman allegedly returning home with infants and behaving suspiciously.
"During the early hours of this morning, Reaction Officers narrowed down a search area to Chesterville.
"Believing that the female suspect was in possession of the kidnapped baby and was planning to flee KZN, Reaction Officers blocked off all entry/exits and kept observation while the RUSA Helicopter searched the area for a vague location provided. A woman was spotted behaving suspiciously with a newborn baby," RUSA said.
When she was stopped, they discovered that the child in her custody was the baby who was kidnapped.
Captain Ntathu Ndlovu of the KZN SAPS told IOL that a 21-year-old woman was arrested in connection with the kidnapping of the child.
"The victim was visited by a female acquaintance whom she met in passing at the local clinic.
"During the visit, the mother allegedly went outside to hang up washing and left her baby with the suspect, upon her return, the suspect was gone with the child," Ndlovu said.
"When Reaction Officers interviewed the woman, she alleged that she had kidnapped the child after she suffered a miscarriage on April 24, 2025. She then claimed to have met the mother at a local clinic and hatched a plan to kidnap her baby so her boyfriend would not dump her.
"After allegedly kidnapping the baby, she visited her boyfriend in Chesterville in KZN and convinced him that it was his child," RUSA stated.
Ndlovu said that the child is undergoing medical assessment and that the suspect will appear before the Durban Magistrate's Court soon.
IOL News