A Pietermaritzburg woman has been sentenced to four years behind bars for stealing a baby in an attempt to deceive her boyfriend.
Bongeka Mathonsi, 33, appeared in the Pietermaritzburg high court last week. She was arrested in October 2019 after breaking into a house in KwaPata and stealing a three-week-old baby girl and items of clothing before fleeing into the night.
“The mother realised that her baby was missing in the early hours of the morning when she wanted to breastfeed her,” said police spokesperson Col Thembeka Mbele.
Investigations led the police to Mathonsi’s boyfriend house, where she was arrested in his presence with the baby.
“The accused had deceived her boyfriend from Malawi by telling him that she was pregnant with his baby. The boyfriend had been depositing cash into her account to pay for the baby. The accused stole the baby when the boyfriend wanted to see her so that he would take her to his home for their traditional rituals,” said Mbele.
"Mathonsi was immediately arrested."
Mathonsi was sentenced for the kidnapping and was declared unfit to have a gun.
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