A 17-year-old girl who allegedly stole a six-month-old baby from his mother at the Mokopane Shopping Centre last week will remain behind bars, Limpopo police said on Monday.
The teenager had appeared before the Mokopane Magistrate’s Court, where her case was postponed to April 23 for a formal bail application, said Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe.
The girl had been arrested at the weekend at Ga-Mphela village outside Polokwane - alongside her 23-year-old boyfriend - following an intense search for the baby.
The child was unharmed.
Police, however, seemingly do not have a case against the man.
"The case against the boyfriend was withdrawn pending further police investigations," said Ngoepe.
He added that while the infant had been positively identified by his mother, DNA tests were yet to be conducted to confirm whether this was in fact true.
The child’s 24-year-old mother had said she had met an unknown woman in the shopping centre.
The woman had offered to hold her child while they ate, after which they had walked together to a shopping centre.
"Without the mother noticing, the suspect disappeared with the infant," Ngoepe said at the time.
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