A KwaZulu-Natal woman and her alleged lover are expected to appear in the Verulam magistrate’s court this week in connection with an alleged hoax hijacking.
Reaction Unit of SA (Rusa) said the 42-year Dawncrest, Verulam, woman was reported missing by her husband on Thursday.
He called the security firm for assistance after he received two voice notes via WhatsApp from his wife informing him she was being hijacked near Riet River in Verulam.
He later received two pin locations indicating she was in Westville and Pinetown and then communication ended.
Rusa said a missing person case was reported and an alert was circulated to other law enforcement and security companies as well as on social media to locate the wife or her car, a white Suzuki Celerio.
“However, several callers informed officers the female was allegedly involved in an extra marital affair and had faked the hijacking to be with her lover. Officers were also forwarded an image of a woman [believed to be the wife] requesting legal assistance in obtaining a divorce. Further information received was the woman was seen driving alone in her car hours after the hijacking was reported,” said Rusa.
'Kidnapped' woman and lover in police custody for hoax hijacking
Image: Gareth Wilson
A KwaZulu-Natal woman and her alleged lover are expected to appear in the Verulam magistrate’s court this week in connection with an alleged hoax hijacking.
Reaction Unit of SA (Rusa) said the 42-year Dawncrest, Verulam, woman was reported missing by her husband on Thursday.
He called the security firm for assistance after he received two voice notes via WhatsApp from his wife informing him she was being hijacked near Riet River in Verulam.
He later received two pin locations indicating she was in Westville and Pinetown and then communication ended.
Rusa said a missing person case was reported and an alert was circulated to other law enforcement and security companies as well as on social media to locate the wife or her car, a white Suzuki Celerio.
“However, several callers informed officers the female was allegedly involved in an extra marital affair and had faked the hijacking to be with her lover. Officers were also forwarded an image of a woman [believed to be the wife] requesting legal assistance in obtaining a divorce. Further information received was the woman was seen driving alone in her car hours after the hijacking was reported,” said Rusa.
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The company said it couldn’t verify the information and the search continued until Saturday.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said the woman and the 55-year-old man who was party to the orchestration of her fake kidnapping and also assisted her to dispose of her vehicle after spending the night with her, were charged with defeating the ends of justice.
“The woman claimed to have been hijacked in Verulam and was locked in the boot of her car where she miraculously managed to send two voice-note messages to her husband. Intelligence uncovered that prior to her imaginary hijacking and kidnapping, the woman had spent some time at a casino,” he said.
Netshiunda said investigations traced the woman to an overnight accommodation establishment in Newcastle, and realising police were closing in on her, she presented herself at the Newcastle police station on Saturday.
She claimed her kidnappers dropped her on the side of the road.
The two will appear in court on Tuesday.
TimesLIVE
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