By Kaya 959 Reporter
A woman has been reunited with her family 20 years after she was allegedly kidnapped in Ermelo, Mpumalanga.
According to reports, a boy was scrolling through Facebook when he came across a profile picture of a woman who looked like his mother.
He showed the image to his grandmother who told him to show it to his mother. Police were able to track down the woman. Officers arrested the 50-year-old woman for kidnapping.
It is alleged that in 2001, the boy’s mother gave birth to a baby girl. The mother was 16 at the time. She was discharged from the Ermelo Provincial Hospital. Her aunt was with her.
Police said the mother, who was feeling dizzy and was in pain, was befriended by the suspect, who offered to help carry the baby.
The teen’s aunt was at a shop at the time. The suspect walked off with the baby and the matter was reported to the police.
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Woman arrested
Despite searches over the years, police were unable to find the baby until the boy’s discovery on Facebook.
Last month, DNA tests were conducted that proved the 50-year-old suspect was not the 20-year-old woman’s mother.
The suspect was arrested and charged. She has since appeared in the Ermelo Magistrate’s Court and was released on R1000 bail.
She is due back in the dock in January 2022.
Police say the 20-year-old woman has been taken to a place of safety while investigations continue.
In November, a woman was arrested in Mpumalanga for allegedly kidnapping a baby. The woman reportedly posed as a social worker and kidnapped a newborn at a local taxi rank.
Police said the suspect claimed to help unemployed mothers.
The woman offered to hold the baby while the mother went into a shop. She was later arrested in a house in Ext 5 in Embalenhle.
The newborn was reunited with its mother.
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