According to Rusa, the operation began late on Sunday evening after the mother contacted the Rusa operations centre at about 10pm to report the abduction of her baby.
“Reaction officers circulated the missing child's information and received 34 tip-offs and leads in the 11 hours leading to the arrest and recovery,” said Rusa.
Leads poured in from across the country, including Pietermaritzburg, Limpopo, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Many tip-offs involved reports of women returning home with newborns and acting suspiciously.
During the early hours of Monday morning, the search was narrowed to the Chesterville area in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Believing the female suspect was in possession of the kidnapped baby and planning to flee the province, Reaction officers blocked entry and exits and kept observation while the Rusa helicopter searched the area for a vague location provided,” said Rusa.
“A woman behaving suspiciously with a newborn baby was spotted. Upon being stopped and questioned by Rusa officers, it was confirmed the baby in her possession was [the missing newborn].
“The woman had to be removed from the area after a mob threatened to kill her.”
She was arrested. The case is under investigation by the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit at SAPS Cato Manor.
TimesLIVE
Durban woman arrested 'after kidnapping baby to deceive boyfriend'
Image: 123rf
A two-week-old baby allegedly kidnapped in Durban has been found safe and a 21-year-old woman has been arrested.
“She confirmed she had kidnapped the child after she suffered a miscarriage on April 24,” private security service Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) said.
She met the newborn's mother at a clinic and allegedly hatched the kidnap plan “so her boyfriend would not dump her”, said Rusa.
After abducting the infant, the woman took the baby to her boyfriend in Chesterville and falsely claimed it was his child.
The suspect was traced by Rusa within hours of the baby's mother alerting them to the abduction.
The infant was found unharmed near the Westville Pavilion shopping centre at about 9.15am on Monday.
The Joshlin case's urgent lesson
According to Rusa, the operation began late on Sunday evening after the mother contacted the Rusa operations centre at about 10pm to report the abduction of her baby.
“Reaction officers circulated the missing child's information and received 34 tip-offs and leads in the 11 hours leading to the arrest and recovery,” said Rusa.
Leads poured in from across the country, including Pietermaritzburg, Limpopo, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Many tip-offs involved reports of women returning home with newborns and acting suspiciously.
During the early hours of Monday morning, the search was narrowed to the Chesterville area in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Believing the female suspect was in possession of the kidnapped baby and planning to flee the province, Reaction officers blocked entry and exits and kept observation while the Rusa helicopter searched the area for a vague location provided,” said Rusa.
“A woman behaving suspiciously with a newborn baby was spotted. Upon being stopped and questioned by Rusa officers, it was confirmed the baby in her possession was [the missing newborn].
“The woman had to be removed from the area after a mob threatened to kill her.”
She was arrested. The case is under investigation by the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit at SAPS Cato Manor.
TimesLIVE
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